


Woo Me

by Crematosis



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Angst and Fluff and Smut, Community: avengerkink, Falling In Love, Hurt Tony Stark, Love and Marriage, M/M, Protective Steve Rogers, Sleep Deprivation, Slow Build, Tony Being Tony
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-10
Updated: 2015-02-12
Packaged: 2018-02-28 21:48:25
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 30,068
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2748302
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Crematosis/pseuds/Crematosis
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tony has never been good at relationships. After his breakup with Pepper, he's pretty sure he'll never find anyone else who can put up with all his idiosyncrasies and it's probably best if he lives alone.</p><p>But when Steve decides he's going to woo him, Tony finds it hard to resist.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Kigichi](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kigichi/gifts).



> And yet another prompt fill for the fabulous Kigichi over at avengerkink. She asked for Steve wooing Tony and somehow it spiraled into a multi-chaptered monstrosity that I will be editing and posting for the next several weeks, probably.

For most of Tony's life, he had been obsessed with whatever was faster and more exciting than what everybody else was doing. There were fast cars, fast women, and now that he had his Iron Man suit, he could even fly fast.

Pepper, bless her heart and soul, had certainly tried to slow him down. But even she couldn't keep up with the constant danger, the explosions, the weekly near-death incidents. He didn't blame her when she decided to step back and stay with the company instead of him.

It was better to stick with one-night stands, quickly falling into bed and then leaving just as quickly the next morning.

But with Steve, everything was different.

He and Steve had started off on the wrong foot, but after the incident on the helicarrier, Steve had apologized and put in the effort to get to know Tony and befriend him. He had even stopped down in the lab a few times to see how Tony was doing, listening attentively as Tony described things that were probably way, way, way over Steve's head.

And Tony had gotten to appreciate Steve's company. It was nice to have a guest in the lab who seemed genuinely interested and impressed by Tony's work. But, of course, there were the rare times when he had to be completely focused on a sensitive bit of equipment and couldn't really stop and explain everything for Steve's benefit.

Tony had just started diagnostics on the armor when the lab doors slid open and Jarvis announced Steve's entry.

“Sorry, Cap. I'm going to be working for awhile. No time to talk now.”

Steve smiled and patted his sketchbook. “Your lab is full of interesting things I can draw. I'll keep myself busy. ”

Well, whatever. If Steve wanted to be bored for the next couple hours, that was his problem.

A few hours later, Tony came out of his inventing fugue enough to realize that his energy needed a top up. He reached for his coffee mug and was surprised when his hands curled around a burger wrapper instead. But he wasn't complaining. Being awesome tended to work up an appetite.

He took a bite and sighed happily. It was just the way he liked it.

A quick glance back confirmed that Steve was still sitting on the couch, sketching. So, he was the burger fairy.

Steve glanced up and smiled. “How's the burger?”

“This is from that little place on Main, isn't it?”

Steve nodded. “Jack's Grill.”

“Ah, that place is my favorite.”

“I know.”

Tony blinked in surprise. “You do?”

Steve smiled. “Jarvis told me.” He patted Tony's shoulder before heading back out the door. “Enjoy your burger, Tony. I worry about you when you're down here all day without eating.”

Tony sat in stunned surprise for a few minutes. This couldn't possibly be real life. This sort of thing just didn't happen to him.

“Jarvis, did Cap just-”

“Yes, sir. Captain Rogers brought you back a burger from Jack's Grill.”

“And you told him to go to Jack's Grill.” It was a bad day when his AI started scheming about ways to get him to eat more.

“He asked me what you like to eat,” Jarvis said. Tony might have been hallucinating, but it sounded like there was a note of pride in his voice.

Well, whatever. It was nice of Steve to bring him something to eat, but it was probably just his way of showing friendly concern after yesterday's rough battle. It wasn't going to last.

But the next afternoon, Steve was back in the lab with two containers of take-out Chinese from Tony's favorite Chinese place. “You can eat whenever you're free to take a break,” Steve assured him. “But I just went out for lunch and thought I'd bring you something back while I was at it.”

Tony regarded Steve suspiciously as he settled back down on the couch. Steve rarely ate fast food. Sure, he'd eat just about anything right after a battle when everyone was too exhausted to move, let alone think about cooking. But normally, he ate protein bars, cereal that looked like cardboard, and green smoothies that looked uncomfortably like the sludge he used to drink when he had palladium poisoning.

The point was, Steve would never just happen to go out for Chinese food, especially to Tony's favorite Chinese place. He could sense Jarvis' influence again.

But, just this once, he'd go along with his AI's evil plot. Having lunch with Steve was pretty harmless.

Over the next week, Steve stopped by Tony's lab with lunch every single day. It was always good food, always from places Tony was fond of. Steve insisted that it was no trouble at all, that he was happy to do it, that he enjoyed sharing lunch with him. Which had to be a lie because Tony was usually terrible company. He had a tendency to fiddle with his phone while he talked to people, and he worked while eating. But since Steve was clearly making an effort to be nice to Tony instead of lecturing him for his poor eating habits, he tried to give Steve his undivided attention when they were eating together.

Tony was beginning to really look forward to Steve's visits. It was surprisingly nice to have regular human contact, something Tony never thought he'd admit. And Steve was happy to listen to him talk about anything and everything.

“You're the best source of information on the modern world,” Steve explained. “If I need any help, I can depend on you.” And he fixed Tony with one of his fabulously earnest smiles that was almost impossible to disagree with.

So maybe he liked having Steve in his lab a little more than just because he brought him food. Hell, the food was just a bonus. So when Steve showed up with tacos, Tony didn't really mind. He didn't have a favorite taco place. He had gotten a little too used to all the good taco places in Malibu. Nothing in New York tasted quite the same.

But Tony took a bite and his eyes lit up. “Oh my god, where did you get these?” he demanded. “I thought all the Mexican places here were crap.”

“They are,” Steve said. “I had to make these myself.”

Tony's eyes widened. “You? You made these? I didn't know you could cook.”

Steve smiled. “Of course I can. Mother always told me the easiest way to a man's heart was through his stomach. I learned from the best.”

Tony froze. “You're cooking for me because, because...”

Oh.

He laughed nervously. “I don't really have a heart you know. Just ask Pepper. I'm sure it's a waste of your time.”

“It will never be a waste of my time,” Steve said firmly. He reached across the makeshift table and took Tony's hand in his.

Tony swallowed and stared at their intertwined fingers. This sort of thing just didn't happen to him.

Steve released his hand. “So, what would you like me to bring tomorrow?”

“Surprise me,” Tony said. His hand still felt warm from where Steve had touched him.

The next afternoon, Steve poked his head into the lab wearing a dark blazer over a button-up shirt, which was pretty much the most dressed up Tony had ever seen him.

“You want to get out of the house for a little while?”

Tony looked down at his grease-stained tank top. “Not like this, I don't.”

Steve smiled. “Go and get changed. I'll wait.”

Tony took a nice long shower, which gave him plenty of time to think about what was happening. Steve might be taking him out on a date. No, scratch that. Steve was definitely taking him out on a date.

“Jarvis,” Tony said. “Did you put him up to this?”

“I did nothing of the sort, sir. Far be it from me to meddle in your romantic affairs. But, I would suggest that you stop procrastinating and return downstairs. It would be impolite to keep Captain Rogers waiting.”

Tony waggled his finger at the ceiling. “You better not be blackmailing him. I know desperate times lead to desperate measures, but you do not have to buy me a boyfriend. Got that?”

“As I've said before, sir, I have done nothing of the sort. Captain Rogers is acting of his own volition.”

Huh. It would have been easier to accept his AI was secretly plotting.

When Tony eventually meandered back down the stairs, he was half-hoping that it was all a dream and that Steve was calmly waiting for him down in the lab with homemade chicken noodle soup or curry from the little shop two blocks away.

Because he could handle eating lunch with a teammate, even an overly friendly one. Dating, not so much. He had been on a grand total of three dates in his life, all with Pepper. So, he really, really didn't know what he was doing. And fucking things up with Steve would mean an end to all the lunch dates and the wonderful conversations and the silent companionship.

Tony didn't think he could handle that.

But when he got downstairs, Steve was sitting on the couch in his blazer and slacks. So, this was real. All too real.

Steve rose, a teasing grin on his face. “Ah, so there is a man under all that grease and sweat.” He nodded, giving Tony a quick once-over. “You clean up pretty nice.”

Tony coughed. “I guess. So, where are we going?”

“We can go wherever you like,” Steve said. “But, if you have no particular preference, I know a nice restaurant with a great view of Central Park.”

“Lead the way,” Tony said. “You're the expert.”

Steve held out his hand and Tony reached out instinctively. Hand-holding was always something other people did, but it felt natural walking side by side with Steve. He had no idea where they were going, but with Steve's hand wrapped around his, it didn't matter. He trusted Steve to take him someplace good.

Once they'd settled into their booth at the restaurant, Tony quirked an eyebrow. “So, what is this all about? Getting tired of my lab?”

Steve shrugged. “You told me to surprise you.”

“Ah. Well, I am definitely surprised.”

“A good kind of surprise, I hope.”

Tony looked down, realizing their hands were still intertwined atop the table. “So far,” he said. Holding hands was the awesomest thing in the world. Or maybe it was just because Steve's hands were so big and warm. He didn't think he could ever feel cold again as long as he could convince Steve to keep coming down to the workshop and-

His head jerked up as he felt Steve's foot gently nudge his.

“Sorry,” Steve said. “But Antonio wants to know if we're ready to order.”

Right. They were out in public. Fantasy land would have to wait.

He cleared his throat. “Steve's the expert here. I'll have whatever he recommends.”

Steve smiled and squeezed his hand. “You'd probably prefer the orange-ginger scallops. They're really good.”

Yep, that sounded delicious. Steve knew him pretty well. It was a little scary.

The waiter nodded and tucked their menus back under his arm. “Anything to drink while you wait?”

“He likes coffee,” Steve said. “As strong as you can make it, extra sweetener, and hazelnut coffee creamer, if you have it.”

And Steve even knew how he liked his coffee. This was really scary.

The scallops were just as delicious as Steve had promised. “Good choice,” Tony said approvingly. “I'm glad I listened to you for once.”

“Oh, just about everything on the menu is delicious,” Steve assured him. “You'd probably like the five-spice chicken, too. We can do that next time.”

Next time. Now, that was what Tony liked to hear.

“The spicy shrimp is also pretty good,” Steve continued. “But, the scallops are probably still my favorite.”

“You must come here a lot,” Tony said.

Steve nodded. “I like the view.” He gestured to the window. “All the vibrant plant life right outside. It's great for sketching. And the food is great, too, of course. Although,” his eyes sparkled mischievously as he leaned across the table, “I'm sure I can copy just about everything on the menu. I've been testing my own scallop recipe. Natasha and Clint tell me it's pretty close to the real thing.”

“You've been making those two food?” Tony said with mock indignation. “I thought you were my own personal chef.”

Steve shrugged. “They have a habit of popping up whenever I start cooking. I'm not quick enough to catch them before they get a taste.”

“Well, we'll see about that,” Tony said. “Next time you make your version, I demand a taste.”

“Absolutely,” Steve said. “Probably Tuesday.”

“Looking forward to it.”

“So am I.” Steve grinned. “Tony Stark's personal chef. It's a very noteworthy position. I'll try my best to live up to the title.”

Tony swatted him with a napkin. Steve swatted him back.

In the ensuing napkin fight, Tony somehow missed that Steve had grabbed the check and paid for their meals.

Sneaky bastard.

“You know I'm not hurting for money, right?” Tony said.

“Neither am I,” Steve said. “Relax, Tony. Just let me take care of you for once.”

Tony blinked at him. “You can't possibly be real.”

Steve slung an arm around his shoulders. “This feel real enough?”

Well, the weight of Steve's arm certainly felt real. But still, this was not the sort of thing that happened to him. Who liked looking after people anyway? Pepper always complained about having to babysit him in the lab to make sure he got paperwork done. But here was Steve talking like he enjoyed that sort of thing.

“You're weird,” Tony said.

“So are you. We make a great pair, don't we? Two weirdos walking down the street together.”

Oh god. Steve was going to give him a heart attack.

Steve escorted him all the way back to the lab. “So, that was fun, right? Getting a little fresh air and sunshine didn't kill you?”

Tony rolled his eyes. “Very funny.”

Steve smiled. “I had a great time, Tony. We'll definitely have to do that again sometime. Well, I'll let you get back to work.”

Tony was reluctant to let go of Steve's hand, but he forced himself to take a step back towards his machines. “Yeah, see you tomorrow.”

Tony watched until the elevator door slid shut before he sprawled across Steve's couch. Yep, it was Steve's couch now. He wasn't ever going to think about it as anything but Steve's couch. Steve had been sitting on it so often it even started to smell like him.

“Judging by the size of your smile, I suspect your date went better than you expected,” Jarvis said.

“Oh, shut up.”

“It is good to see you happy, sir.”

“You like Steve, don't you?”

“I approve of anyone who makes you happy. And since he appears to make you happy, yes, I do like him.”

Tony nodded. “I like him, too. He's a good man.”

 


	2. Chapter 2

Lunch plans the next few days were interrupted by evil villain attacks. Tony threw himself into the fights with a little more ruthlessness than usual. How dare they interrupt his lunch time with Steve. Couldn't they have waited a few hours later? Because no matter how fast they dispatched the idiot, everyone would still insist on going out to eat as a team.

And Tony didn't want to eat with the team. He wanted to eat with Steve.

“My friends, it has been an honor to share a meal as a team these past days,” Thor announced as he polished off a sixth hot dog. “In the spirit of continued friendship and camaraderie as a team, I move that we have these feasts more often.”

Tony glowered at him.

“Perhaps a weekly team dinner,” Steve said. “We can take turns cooking.”

“An excellent idea,” Thor said. “You shall all be feasting like Asgardians on my scheduled day. I'm not quite sure how I will go about procuring traditional ingredients, but I'm sure I can manage somehow.”

Tony and Steve shared a look as Clint and Thor got into a heated argument over whether or not someone should be disqualified from cooking duties because of an incident involving putting a spoon in the blender to see if the blender was strong enough.

Tony sighed. “He's going to blow up my kitchen, isn't he?”

“Probably.”

Tony lightly swatted Steve's shoulder. “You're going first, then. I'm going to murder him if he destroys my kitchen before I get to eat those scallops.”

Steve smiled. “He won't. I promised you scallops and that's exactly what you're going to get.”

On Tuesday, Steve appeared down in the lab with nothing but a piece of paper in his hand. He looked uncharacteristically solemn and Tony immediately feared the worst. Steve had to be sick of him.

He put on a brave face and tried to play it off with a joke. “So, what's this? Finally suing me for harassment?”

Steve shook his head. “I would never sue you, Tony. It's just-” His shoulders slumped. “Fury's given me orders. I leave in an hour.”

Tony's spirits sank. “Well, it is what it is, I guess. All good things must come to an end.”

Steve put a hand on his shoulder. “This isn't the end, Tony. Trust me. When I get back, we'll have a picnic in Central Park. But to tide you over until I come back, I made this for you. “ He held out the piece of paper.

It was a sketch of the two of them eating burgers in the lab. Tony was gesturing with a half-eaten burger in one hand and Steve was grinning as he sipped his soda. Steve had even included Dummy, not-so-stealthily trying to steal a french fry off Tony's plate. It was disgustingly domestic and Tony was going to frame it and hang it up on the wall in the workshop as soon as possible.

“This is amazing,” Tony said. “It looks exactly like me.”

Steve snorted.

“No, really. I can't draw like this. Everyone looks only vaguely people-shaped. But you're actually good at this. Thanks, Steve. It's the coolest thing anyone's ever gotten me.”

Steve pulled him into a hug. “I left you a container of scallops with your name on it. If anyone tries to steal them, Jarvis will let me know.”

“And you'll kick their asses when you get back.”

“You got it.”

“When will you be back?”

“In a month, probably. Try not to miss me too much, okay?”

“I miss you already. Who's going to feed me when you're gone?”

Steve sighed and shook his head. “Look after yourself, Tony. For me. I want to come home and find you healthy and well-rested.”

“Okay,” Tony agreed readily.

Steve glanced upwards. “Jarvis, make sure you hold him to it.”

“Of course, Captain. I wish you an easy mission and a safe return.”

“A fast return,” Tony mumbled against Steve's shirt.

Steve chucked and stroked his back. “I'll call when I can. And maybe e-mail if I can figure that out.”

Tony threw himself back into his work. It was easier that way. If he was focused on his projects, he would have less time to think about Steve, or more accurately, Steve's absence. And it seemed to be working. In no time at all, Jarvis said “I think you should retire for the night, sir.”

“Oh, I'm sure you think that. But it's not going to happen.” He usually ignored Jarvis' suggestion that he get to sleep. Some nights he stayed awake for another five hours, some nights he didn't sleep at all.

“Captain Rogers will be most displeased if he hears you're not sleeping.”

“You suck,” Tony said. “Introducing the two of you was probably the biggest mistake of my life.” He shook a wrench at the ceiling. “You weaselly little blackmailer.”

“Thank you, sir.”

“That wasn't a compliment. I ought to turn you into scrap metal.”

“Are you certain that's what you want to do, sir? I'd think you'd prefer me to hack into SHIELD's files and track Captain Rogers' mission status.”

Tony sat up with a start. “Fuck. Why didn't I think of that? Do it, Jarvis.”

“After you've had some rest.”

Tony huffed and slumped back into his chair. “Fine. You win. I'll go to bed for a few hours. But when I wake up, you better get to work.”

“After you've had breakfast.”

Tony glared. “You just don't know when to quit, do you?”

“I will never quit looking after your health and well-being, sir. It would be nice if you would listen to me or your own body, but if Captain Rogers' influence works, I will accept that.”

Armed with Steve's request, Jarvis proved to be an evil taskmaster. He refused to start up any of Tony's projects until he had at least four hours of sleep, he dimmed the screens three times a day until Tony went and got himself something to eat, and started shutting off his projects at 3 a.m. and refused to let him back until he had slept.

Tony hated having to leave his lab in the middle of an inventing spree.

“You seem to be a little listless these days,” Natasha said, as Tony made the obligatory trek into the kitchen to raid the fridge for lunch.

“I'm just lazy,” Tony said. “I hate having to cook for myself. Got a little too used to Steve bringing me treats. But making them myself is too much work. Just thinking about it drains all my energy.” He looked at her hopefully.

She tossed a box of crackers at him. “You'll survive.”

Tony frowned at the box. “Well, snack food at least. That'll tide me over for, oh, a few hours. So, I think I'm confiscating this in the name of-”

“You miss him, don't you?”

Tony blinked. “Uhh. Did you miss the part where he feeds me so I don't have to? Because, yeah, I really miss that. I love you all, really. But watching Thor try to put maple syrup and soy sauce on a hot dog is enough to make me hurl.”

“You like him, don't you?”

“I have no idea what you're-”

Barton dropped down from the ceiling vent and snagged the box of crackers out of Tony's hand. “Okay, what the hell are you two on about?”

“Tony has a little crush on Steve.”

“Yeah?” Clint raised an eyebrow and took a handful of crackers.

Tony avoided his eyes. “When I was a little kid, yeah. I was totally a Captain America fan. I could out-Coulson the man himself.”

Natasha leaned in closer to Clint. “He's been moping around the Tower for the last five days.”

“I have not been moping,” Tony insisted. “I'm just bored.”

Natasha grinned wickedly. “Great. A nice sparring match should take care of that.”

“Pardon me, sir, but you have an incoming phone call from Captain Rogers.”

Tony scrambled out of Natasha's clutches. “Oh, bless you, Cap. You have the best timing.” He snatched the crackers back from Clint and made a beeline down to the lab. “Jarvis, bring up the screens.”

And then the workshop was filled with a wide-screen image of Steve's face. He looked a little tired, a little worse for the wear. But god was he gorgeous.

“Hey, Tony,” Steve said. “You staying out of trouble?”

“Well, you know me,” Tony said. “The lab is probably the safest place for me.”

Steve grinned. “Probably. Have you been eating?”

Tony shook the box of crackers at him. “Food. Right here.”

“I'm talking about actual meals.”

“Natasha refused to make me anything. And knowing Barton, he'll probably spit in my food. Hmmn, maybe I can go bug Bruce.”

“You really need to learn to take care of yourself, Tony. I love looking after you, but if there's ever a time when I can't be there for you any-”

“Nope,” Tony said firmly. “You're always going to be there for me. You've always got my back, Cap.”

Steve's expression softened. “Always.”

Tony sat down on the couch and put his feet up on the arm rest. “So, how's the mission going? You must have been busy the last few days.”

Steve nodded. “I've been working as hard as I can. Anything I can do to get home to you sooner.”

Tony's mouth felt dry. “Just be careful,” he said.

Steve chuckled. “You're telling me to be careful?”

“I want you back in one piece, you know. If you end up getting killed or captured because-”

“I'll be fine, Tony. It's not really dangerous work, just tedious. And yes, I'll be careful. I don't want to ever leave you alone.”

“Good,” Tony said. “Hydra are sneaky little bastards. Probably just waiting to lull you into a false sense of security.”

“I don't think it's Hydra this time. We haven't seen anything besides a few local kids with electrical powers. Doesn't really seem big enough to be Hydra.”

“Oh, it's always Hydra,” Tony said. He looked down at the print-out Jarvis had made of Steve's mission details. The kids were only going to be the beginning.

“We'll see,” Steve said. “But in the meantime, I've had a lot of downtime. I've filled up a whole sketchbook already.”

“Those kids really look that interesting?”

Steve smiled. “Of course not. Nobody could ever be as interesting as you.” He held up the sketchbook and Tony swallowed hard as he got a good look at a picture of him hard at work at his computer.

“Damn,” Tony said. “I didn't know you missed me that badly.”

“Every day,” Steve said. “I put a few sketches in the mail already. They'll probably take a week or so to get to you since-”

“SHIELD is going to want to fuck with them just to make sure I'm not getting any secret information.” As if they could really stop him from getting information.

“Yeah,” Steve said. “They had me address the letters from Stefan Roberts, New Hampshire.”

“Like I'd really believe you're in New Hampshire. Nothing exciting ever happens in New Hampshire.”

“I can't tell you where I am,” Steve said. “But I am overseas. So, I'm sorry if I call at weird times. The time difference is a little hard to get used to. It's already evening here.”

“It's lunch time here,” Tony said.

“Good. I was hoping for that. Sorry about not being able to be there in person.”

“It's fine,” Tony said. “You just owe me when you get back. I'm going to make you a giant list of things you need to cook and then lock you into the kitchen until It gets done.”

Steve snorted. “You're ridiculous, Tony. Never change.”

“I don't think I could, even if I tried.”

Steve smiled. “I mean it, Tony. I like you just the way you are.”

“I like you, too,” Tony said. “I mean, you shouldn't change either. Well, changing into Cap was a good change. But other than that, don't change. The muscles are great and you need to keep them. Not that you weren't awesome as skinny Steve. Because you're totally still the same person inside where it counts and uh, I'm going to shut up now.”

Steve grinned. “And on that note, I think I'm going to hit the hay. Better quit while I'm ahead.”

“Night, Steve.”

“Good-night, Tony. Don't forget to check the mail.”

As if Tony was going to forget. Nope. Now that he knew Steve was sending him stuff, he was going to camp out at the mailbox every day. Several times a day, probably. Because the super secret spy twins probably snooped in everyone's mail and hell no were Steve's precious artworks falling into their evil clutches.

The only problem was that he wasn't sure where the mailbox actually was. When Pepper was there, she had always checked the mail for him. And after the Avengers moved into the Tower, well, Tony hadn't exactly paid attention to who got the mail. But he would bet money on the spies.

So, Tony just had to be a spy, too. Watch them for a day or so, see where the mail came from. He could totally figure this-

“The mailboxes are located on the first floor, sir. Behind the door labeled “mail room.”

“Right,” Tony said. “I knew that.”

“And your box will be labeled-”

“With my name on it, yes. Jesus, Jarvis. I'm not that helpless.”

“And there is also a communal Avengers box that you could also check.”

“Yeah, no,” Tony said. “Steve's addressing this stuff to me and only me.”

But he checked the communal box, too, just in case. There was no telling if the spies had gotten to the mail first and simply hidden Steve's letter.

“Sir, the mail comes once a day,” Jarvis reminded him after the fourth trip of the day down to the mail room. “No matter how many times you visit the mail room, this will not change. Give it a few more days, sir. Captain Rogers did say it will take some time for the mail to arrive.”

“It's been a week already,” Tony whined. “I want mail. And not the boring crap Pepper tries to send me.”

“Captain Rogers' exact words were 'a week or so'. I wouldn't worry until another few days have passed.”

“Worrying? Who's worrying?”

“Captain Rogers' letter will arrive, sir. Now, please stop pacing.”

Tony huffed and reluctantly wandered back to the lab. “I'm going to take a nap. Wake me up when the mail gets here. But only if it's Steve's stuff. I'm not getting out of bed for advertisements or any lame party invitations.”

“As you wish, sir.”

That night, Tony dreamed that Steve was sitting at his desk sketching when the drawing came to life and tried to choke him. He woke up in a cold sweat.

“Are you alright, sir?”

“Yeah, fine.” Tony reached for the water on his night stand with shaking hands. “Did the mail come yet?”

“Not yet, sir. It is only 5 a.m.”

“Fuck.”

“Perhaps you will feel better after a cup of coffee.”

“And then will you let me back in the lab?”

“Of course, sir. You've been asleep for almost seven hours. It's a new record for you.”

“Oh, yes. I can hear the pride in your voice. But don't get used to it.”

“I never do,” Jarvis said sorrowfully.

“And don't even try with the guilt trip right now. I'm not in the mood.” He stormed into the kitchen and went straight for the coffee pot.

“You're up early,” Natasha said.

Tony was too used to the sneaky spy shit to jump at the sound of her voice, but he did look around the kitchen carefully until he spotted her rummaging in the bottom cabinet for a box of granola bars.

“Any word from Steve?” she asked.

Tony's jaw tightened. “No. Not since the phone call.”

She straightened up and offered him a sympathetic smile. “You have to remember that SHIELD missions are different. They require a lot of secrecy. I'm sure he would contact you if he could. It's not like him to leave his boyfriend in the dark.”

“He's not my boyfriend,” Tony said stiffly. “Steve and I...well, I'm not exactly sure what to call it, but he's not my boyfriend.”

Natasha grinned. “Keep telling yourself that. I can't wait until he comes home. The tearful reunion will be priceless.”

“And you keep telling yourself that,” Tony said. “There will be no tears, no dramatics. Nothing of the sort. I'll be happy to have him home and that's it.”

Natasha snorted. “Clint and I have a running bet on how you'll react. Don't let me down, okay?”

He returned to the lab with his cup of coffee and brought up the list of weapons upgrades he planned on making. Clint and Natasha's were going right to the bottom of the list because he could be petty and childish in revenge and there was nothing they could do about it. So there.

He drafted a new prototype for the armor and then brought up the Quinjet schematics so he could make a few tweaks here and there to optimize efficiency.

“Sir, the mail has arrived. And I noted a New Hampshire address on one of the envelopes.”

Tony was out of his seat and rocketing towards the elevators before Jarvis had finished speaking.

“There's no rush, sir,” Jarvis said, sounding slightly amused. “The mail will still be there in a few minutes.”

“You might think that,” Tony said. “But I know our spies. I have to get there first.”

Tony raced out of the elevator and triumphantly snatched the letter out of his mailbox. There it was, Steve's neat, precise handwriting. It was probably a little weird to save an envelope just because Steve had written his name on it, but Tony was still debating that.

He opened the envelope carefully and slid out the two sheets of paper. One was a page of Steve's careful writing and yes, this one Tony was definitely saving. The other was a brightly colored drawing of the two of them in their Captain America and Iron Man uniforms with the words “We work as a team” underneath.

It was beautiful and perfect it was going to go on the wall right next to the picture of them eating lunch together. Who needed wallpaper when he could just plaster the walls with Steve's art?

“Jarvis, order some more picture frames,” Tony said. “This is too good not to be framed.”

He reached for the letter and read it a few times, basking in how much Steve said he missed him, how he couldn't wait to get back home, how he was picking up new recipes he wanted to try.

Tony couldn't wait to see him again.

 


	3. Chapter 3

Now that Steve's letters were arriving every few days, Tony's mood had stabilized a little. It was hard to mope (okay, he admitted it, there had been a little moping at first) when Steve's pictures were so bright and cheery. They just brought a smile to his face, even the one with chibi Steve trying to drag Tony to away from his computer and the caption "get some rest."

Of course, now that Tony was in a better mood, the teasing was only getting worse. Every time Tony walked into the room, he was asked, "What'd your boyfriend send you this time?" by Clint or Natasha. And no matter how many times he insisted Steve wasn't his boyfriend, they only smiled at him like he was an idiot. It was getting annoying.

"I do not understand," Thor said. "You are referring to the glorious friendship between our Captain and the Man of Iron?"

"Oh, I think they're a little bit more than friends now," Natasha said with a smirk. "Haven't you seen the way Tony's been pining for his return?"

"It's not pining," Tony protested. "I'm Tony Stark. I don't pine over anyone or anything."

"He's so cute when he's flustered," Natasha said.

"So, Thor, how do you think Tony's going to react when Steve gets back? I'm betting on high-pitched screaming, Nat's going for tears. What do you think?"

Thor shrugged. "If they indeed have feelings for each other, I do not think crying and screaming would be the right response to such a joyful reunion. There should be smiles and laughter on such an occasion."

"Thor, buddy. This is Tony we're talking about. It's not that simple."

"And I'm right here, thank you," Tony snapped. "You've had your fun, talking about me like I'm the latest entertainment. I'm not going to put up with that any longer. I'm going to be down in my lab until Steve gets back. At least he knows how to treat me like a person."

He stormed down to the lab and threw things across the room until the urge to punch Clint in his smug face had faded. "Damn those fuckers," he muttered. "I can't believe Barton and Romanov are betting on me like that."

"They did not mean to upset you, sir. They are already discussing if they should check on you to see if you're okay."

"Oh, hell no. Jarvis, lockdown. Nobody allowed in under pain of death." He gritted his teeth and started furiously redesigning the training room.

"Sir, if I may-"

"Not now, Jarvis. I don't want to talk about it." He raked a hand through his hair. "I'm tired of all the crap. Nobody's allowed in. And I mean nobody. " His shoulders slumped. "Well, actually, I guess Bruce is okay. He's been keeping out of all the drama. And Thor is just a well-meaning idiot."

"Shall I limit the ban to Agent Barton and Agent Romanov?"

"Yeah, sure. Just the wonder twins. Everybody else is allowed in. Except for Fury. I hate that fucker. And don't let any enemies in obviously. And don't-" He tensed as a pair of strong arms wrapped around his waist.

"Miss me?" a familiar voice whispered in his ear.

"Steve!" Tony said delightedly. He twisted around and threw himself into Steve's arms. "You're back already."

Steve peppered his neck with kisses. "I couldn't stay away any longer."

Tony tilted his head back to allow Steve better access. "God, I've missed you," he said. "And everyone's been giving me crap about it."

"I'll have a talk with them later," Steve said. "Would you feel any better if I told you I just brought you a few souvenirs?"

"Yep. Because I'm your favorite."

"You are," Steve said. He pulled a bar of chocolate out of his pack and presented it to Tony.

"Swiss chocolate?" Tony said with practiced wide-eyed innocence. "I had no idea you were in Switzerland."

"I doubt that," Steve said. "I'm sure you know everything about my mission. You're a genius. You probably figured it out before my plane even landed."

"I didn't know you would be home already," Tony pointed out. "It's only been three weeks and two days."

"And you've been counting down the days."

"Hell yes. A month is way too long, even if you've been wandering all over Europe looking for experimental Hydra science labs. Even three weeks and two days is way too long. Let's not do this again, okay?"

"It's not like I wanted to leave you," Steve said. "I wish I could have take you with me. But Director Fury was afraid you'd start an international incident."

"Ha. Maybe next time I should hack into your mission file and then just tag along anyway. If you ever go to Paris, nothing's going to stop me from meeting you there. I love Paris."

"I did go to Paris," Steve said sheepishly.

"What? That wasn't part of your mission-I mean, ooh, I'm sure Paris was lovely this time of year."

"I made an unscheduled detour," Steve said. "I couldn't resist." He rolled out a sketch of the two of them eating croissants with the Eiffel Tower in the background.

"Okay," Tony said. "I forgive you."

Hand in hand, they walked back upstairs to join the others.

"See?" Thor said. "Joyful smiles. Did I not tell you it would be so?"

Clint heaved a sigh and pulled a twenty out of his wallet. Natasha followed suit, looking equally disappointed by the outcome.

"Thank you, my friends," Thor said. "I shall use this money wisely. Which means I shall purchase as many Pop-tarts as I can afford."

Tony grinned. "Thor, you're my favorite. After Steve, of course."

Thor thumped Steve's shoulder. "It is good to have you back, Captain. We have all missed your presence. And your cooking, of course. It was meant to be your day to make team dinner this past Friday, but as you were absent, friend Bruce introduced us all to the wonders of curry."

Steve nodded. "So that means it's my turn tomorrow."

"Hey, no," Tony said. "You just got back from a mission. You can have a few days off."

"It's fine, Tony. I like to cook. I just need to figure out what to make."

"You are free to make whatever dish fancies you," Thor said. "The Widow chose a traditional dish from her homeland, but we have all agreed that it need not be so elaborate. Whatever you wish to share with the team."

"Don't worry about it," Steve said. "I'm sure I'll think of something."

"We have also instituted a team movie night that friend Tony has yet to attend."

Steve leveled him with a disapproving look.

"They were being mean to me. Why should I grace them with my presence when they're just going to be dicks about it?"

Steve sighed. "It's a very good thing I'm back." He rolled up his sleeves. "Let me have to a look at what's in the pantry. Maybe that'll spark an idea."

Without Steve to do most of the shopping, the pantry was a little empty. But somehow Steve still managed to put together a delicious pesto pasta for the team meal.

And, okay, maybe Tony missed everyone's company a little. Now that Steve was back, no one was teasing him anymore. Probably because they would have gotten the Captain America Death Glare of Doom.

"As this week's cook, you are also entitled to pick a movie, Captain. Last week, we endured something called Super Mario Brothers."

"Shut the fuck up," Clint said. "I like that movie."

"It's only regarded as one of the worst movies in the history of ever," Tony said. "And you wonder why I'm not coming to team movie night. Nobody picks anything good."

"We're watching Star Wars," Steve said.

Tony squealed and threw his arms around Steve's neck. "I take it back. You have good taste, Steve. Such good taste. I have taught you well, my padawan."

Clint made a gagging sound and tossed the DVD at him.

Tony flipped him off. "Steve's missed 70 years of pop culture and he's still cooler than you. Try not to be jealous."

Steve put his hands on his hips and scowled.

"Right. Putting the movie in now."

Steve settled back onto the couch and patted the seat beside him. "I can't wait to see these wonderful movies everyone's been talking about."

So, naturally, Tony insisted that they had to see all of the Star Wars films. Well, the good ones anyway. Because Steve couldn't stop on such a cliffhanger.

He wasn't aware when he fell asleep, but he woke up to find Steve draping a blanket over him. "Hey, Steve," he murmured sleepily. "You don't have to do that. I can get myself to bed."

"Not necessary," Steve said. "I think we all decided to crash in the living room for the night."

Tony blinked as he surveyed Natasha, Bruce, and Thor all sprawled out across the living room floor. And Clint was fast asleep on the top of the couch because of course he was.

Steve kissed his forehead. "Go back to sleep, Tony."

"But where are you going to sleep?"

Steve shrugged. "Wherever there's room."

Tony looked again at the way his teammates were all sprawled out across the floor. "There's room on the couch."

"It's going to be a tight squeeze," Steve warned.

"Well, better this than having Thor's foot in your kidney, right?"

Steve laughed softly as he settled back onto the couch, wrapping his arms around Tony's waist. "Good-night, Tony. Sleep tight."

Well,this was a familiar position. He had always been the little spoon the nights he spent with Pepper. And it had been nice, when he wasn't having nightmares of course. But she didn't hold onto him as tightly as Steve did. He almost believed that he wouldn't have any nightmares with Steve's arms around him. How could he have nightmares when he felt so safe and secure?

It was probably the most restful sleep Tony had had in his entire life.

He woke up the next morning, feeling drowsy, but refreshed. Everyone else was still asleep, thank god. He was in a good mood and he didn't want any of them to spoil it.

Steve shifted behind him."Sleep well?"

"Of course I did."

"Good." Steve planted a kiss to the back of his neck. "I'll make breakfast. Eggs and bacon?"

Tony yawned. "Sounds good to me."

From atop the couch, Clint muttered, "I'd pay good money not to wake up to this crap ever again."

Tony grinned and rolled over to snuggle into Steve's chest. "And I'd pay good money to wake up like this every day for the rest of my life. Steve is warmer than any blanket."

"I try," Steve said, gently stroking Tony's cheek.

Clint made a face. "You two are disgustingly sappy."

"Don't be jealous, Barton. You wish Natasha was this cuddly and sweet."

"Fuck you," Clint said. "We're not even together."

Tony shrugged. "Well, I bet you still wish you had someone to cuddle at night. But, you'll never find anyone as great as Steve. And Steve's mine."

"Always yours," Steve agreed.

Clint made another gagging noise. "I better have breakfast before you two make me lose my appetite."

It would serve him right after all the teasing he'd been doing. Karma was a bitch.

By the time Tony made it into the kitchen, Clint was already gone. Probably just grabbed a granola bar and left. Tony was mildly disappointed that he couldn't harass him further. Instead, he took a seat on a stool at the counter and watched Steve cook. It was obvious cooking was Steve's passion, just as much as art. Tony made a note to himself to buy Steve some fancier kitchen gadgets in addition to new sketchbooks.

Steve set the plate of scrambled eggs and bacon in front of Tony. "Let me know how it tastes."

"It'll be perfect, as usual," Tony said. "You're trying to make me fat with all this good food, aren't you?"

"I'm just trying to keep you eating, keep you healthy. And I don't think you're ever going to get fat. We see enough action fighting the bad guys."

"Ah yes," Tony said. "The Iron Man Workout Plan. Fly four hundred feet every morning and punch at least one bad guy in the face by noon."

Steve rolled his eyes, but he was smiling fondly and Tony would never get tired of having that megawatt smile directed at him. It made him feel all warm and fuzzy inside, like everything was good with the world and he could do absolutely no wrong. It was a dangerous feeling, but Tony had never been the type to stay out of danger.


	4. Chapter 4

Now that Steve was back, they returned to their schedule of sharing lunch together every day. Sometimes Steve just brought down sandwiches to the lab. Sometimes he insisted on a picnic outside so Tony could get some fresh air. And sometimes he took Tony out to lunch at his favorite restaurant. Steve always paid of course. Tony had learned not to argue with him.

There were team dinners and movie nights every Friday. Tony curled up on the couch at Steve's side an occasionally fell asleep with his head in Steve's lap. Normally Steve just let him sleep on the couch for the night, but sometimes he carried Tony up to his bedroom and tucked him in for the night.

Tony was still working on getting Steve to stay in bed with him. Steve was okay snuggling up with him on the couch, but he seemed to think it was improper to share Tony's bed. And really, there was nothing improper about it. All Tony wanted was to share in Steve's delicious body heat. Which was probably surprising, considering his reputation. But really, he was happy just to cuddle with Steve every night.

Too bad the paparazzi didn't believe him. The cover of the National Enquirer was a a picture of them eating lunch at a restaurant together, trumpeting the sordid tale of how Tony had drugged Steve and had his wicked, wicked way with the poor virgin.

Tony had plenty of lawyers on his payroll who were used to stopping the press from printing scandalous stories about Tony, whether or not they were true. And Tony had been content to let his lawyers fight it out. But Steve was furious in a way Tony had never seen him before. And Steve had fought Hydra, people who really deserved the full wrath of Captain America. But apparently what it really took to set Steve off was defamation of character.

Steve demanded a press conference immediately and he spent the entire hour-long talk berating the press for their treatment of Tony. It was amazing to watch Steve reduce veteran reporters to tears with the force of his righteous anger.

"How dare you," Steve said. "This man has been putting his life on the line every day to defend you all. He's a good man, an honorable man. And you know he would never do such a thing to anybody. Are you really going to accuse an innocent man of rape just to sell a few magazines? If this is the way the world is turning out, I am frankly disgusted to be part of it."

Tony's mouth went dry as Steve continued on, praising him as the only thing that made the modern world livable. Because, whoa. With all the overwhelming, confusing things of the future, Steve had picked the most overwhelming, confusing person alive to somehow give him strength.

Jesus.

"So," Steve concluded. "I don't want to hear any more of these false rumors about Tony. I care about him and I will not stand to see you drag him through the mud." And then he rose and marched out before the reporters could collect themselves enough to ask questions.

"Oh my god," Tony said. "That was awesome. I can't believe you said those things."

Steve's jaw was still tightly clenched. "They're bullies, Tony. And I can't stand bullies."

"That's great. Admirable. But do you realize you just outed yourself on national television?"

"What?"

"You pretty much told the whole world you have the hots for me."

"Good. Then they'll understand I'm not being forced into anything. I'm with you because I want to be. And, no, Tony, you are not allowed to try and write these dates off as friendly lunch meetings to save my reputation. In fact, you know what we should do? We should announce that we're going steady."

Tony blinked at him. "What?"

"Oh, right. That's the phrase from my time. You want to keep dating?"

"Hell yes."

"Exclusively?"

"Hasn't been anybody but you for months now."

"No more one night stands?"

"Nope."

"So, we're together now. And anyone who wants to badmouth my boyfriend is going to have to go through me."

Steve was so perfect Tony could just die right then and there and be totally happy. How did people like Steve actually exist? It was like finding a unicorn.

After that, Steve started taking him out almost every day. They saw all of the latest movies together, ate popsicles in the park, toured the National Museum of Art and History, and sometimes just walked through Central Park hand in hand.

"You don't have to do this," Tony said. "When Captain America tells the world he's dating Tony Stark, they believe him. You don't have to try and prove it."

"I don't have to," Steve agreed. "But I want to. What's the point of dating if you can't take your best guy out from time to time?"

"This isn't from time to time, Steve. This is everyday. You're overcompensating for the press."

"Just until they get sick of it," Steve said with a grin. "Do you realize all the tabloids have completely changed their stance on you?"

"So, I'm not the type of man who drugs Captain America? Good to hear."

"You should see the papers," Steve said gleefully.

"Oh, I don't usually read the newspaper. Jarvis tells me about all the important news and I don't really want to waste my time with the tabloids. No matter what I do, they'll still paint me as a rascally old booze-hound."

"Not anymore. Come on." Steve tugged on his hand and practically dragged him all the way back to the Tower.

Natasha held up the newspaper. "Front page again."

Tony squinted at a cluster of pictures of the two of them laughing and holding hands together in various parts of town. "World's cutest couple, eh? I'll be damned."

Steve beamed. "Isn't it wonderful? The press is finally seeing the good in you now."

"Or they're too terrified of Steve to say any different," Natasha muttered.

Steve frowned. "Why should they have anything negative to say about Tony? He hasn't done anything wrong."

"Huh," Tony said. "If you read on, it says your good influence has finally cured me of my wild playboy ways and that...a wedding? Oh, hell no. We're not getting married. Jesus Christ, we just started going steady. We're not getting married already. Steve, you've got to talk to these people. Get them to see some sense."

Steve sighed. "I'm not going to call a press conference about this."

"Oh, you're no fun. With your commanding presence, I bet you could convince the entire world that tomatoes are bad for your health. People would listen, you know. Because you're Captain America."

"The only person I want to listen to me is you," Steve said with a slightly exasperated tone to his voice. "I'm not going to berate the press for thinking we make a cute couple. I think it's nice that they've decided to support us now. It doesn't mean we have to get married immediately just because they say so, but the fact that they're willing to say so means they've realized you're not a bad person. And I would never get angry with someone for that."

Tony huffed. "Okay, fine. But what do I do when I'm swarmed with reporters begging to know about this supposed future wedding?"

Steve shrugged. "No comment? Isn't that what you say when you don't want to talk about things?"

"Or I could tell them that we are in the middle of designing ourselves the most fantastic outfits imaginable and they won't be ready for at least another three years. It'll get them off my back for a little while at least."

"You're just going to make it worse. Isn't that right, Natasha?"

"Don't look at me. He's your boyfriend."

Steve grinned. "Yes. He is, isn't he?"

Tony eyed him warily. They were just having an argument and now Steve was smiling like he couldn't be happier. He was up to something.

"I'll see you later, Tony," Steve said cheerfully. He stuck his hands in his pockets and strolled out of the room.

"What the hell just happened?" Tony asked.

"I would go after him," Natasha said. "Before he does something stupid."

"This is Steve we're talking about. He doesn't do anything stupid."

"Like, say, call the National Enquirer?"

"What? He wouldn't. Where is he?"

Natasha jerked her head towards the kitchen. "I can hear him dialing in the other room."

Tony scurried into the kitchen in time to see Steve press the phone to his ear.

"Yes, I am Tony Stark's boyfriend. And I'd be happy to give you an exclusive interview."

"Steve, no. Give me the phone."

Steve stepped back, just out of his reach. "Yes, it's going very well. The plannings going to take some time, but-"

Tony lunged for the phone and managed to hit the off button. "Jesus Christ, Steve. What the hell were you thinking? You can't be calling the press."

"Why not? I was just going to make up a few details so they won't need to bother us for awhile."

"You can't do that. They hear one word confirming this stupid wedding and they'll get excited and start speculating about everything else. We'll never have a moment's peace. Don't you get it, Steve? It's not going to make it better. It's going to make it worse."

Steve smirked. "Ah, now we've reached an understanding."

Fuck. Steve had gone and made him argue against himself.

"Don't you say it," Tony said. "Don't you dare."

"Of course not," Steve said. "I don't like to gloat."

Right. Steve was too much of a gentleman for that.

Steve took his hand. "And now that we've explored both sides of this argument, we should sit down and discuss it like adults. We should work out together what we're going to say to the press."

"Far too early to be talking about marriage," Tony muttered. "We've only been dating for three months now and we just became official boyfriends last week. Way too soon to start talking about marriage."

"Way too soon," Steve agreed. "You don't rush into this sort of thing. I know people do nowadays, but in my time, marriage was a big commitment. You dated a few people for fun, started going steady if you hit it off, and then once you knew you had found the one, that's when you got married. You can't really know a person overnight. You have to spend several months together, years even, before you're ready for marriage."

"Aha," Tony said. "That's what we tell the press. They'll think your old-fashioned values are adorable." He dusted off his hands. "Problem solved."

Steve caught his arm. "And what do you think?"

"Of course I like this plan. It was my idea, wasn't it?"

"That's not what I meant."

"The marriage thing? You know I'm not ready for that sort of commitment. I can't even make a relationship last for more than six months."

Steve looked pained. "You and Pepper?"

"Yep. Six months. Well, not exactly. We broke up and got back together a few times. So, six months altogether, over a period of two years."

Tony was caught off guard when Steve pulled him into his arms and held him close. "Steve? Steve, what are you doing?"

"I'm sorry, Tony. I didn't know."

"It's old news now. We've been broken up for good for awhile. And it was probably for the best. We were always fighting about my recklessness and how all her rules stifled my creativity. She's probably happier only dealing with me every few weeks, as I'm sure most people are."

"Not me," Steve said. "I will never let that happen to us."

"You can't promise me that. There's bound to be something that you can't handle. And when that time comes, no hard feelings."

"I'm not leaving you, Tony. There's nothing you can ever do to scare me off or chase me away. I promise you that."

Tony knew Steve couldn't guarantee that. Nobody could.

He had heard it all before from men and women who were certain he was the man of their dreams, only to be disappointed when they found out about all his faults. Things were great with Steve now, but inevitably they'd get to arguing about his drinking and his inability to follow orders on the field and they'd have to go back to being teammates. And having Steve break up with him would hurt a lot more than when Pepper left. Still, Steve believed that their relationship would last. And Steve's earnestness was almost enough to convince Tony that maybe he had found the right person at last.

Almost.

Steve had stuck by him longer than anyone else had, but he still couldn't bear to get his hopes up.


	5. Chapter 5

It hurt a little when Steve wanted to celebrate that they had been a couple for an entire month. A month was nothing, really. But, in Tony's world, it was a long time. And another month closer to when they would have their first major fight and Steve would storm out of the mansion, just like Pepper. Tony didn't want to be reminded how precious and fleeting his time was with Steve. But apparently Steve was the sappy sentimental type. And he just couldn't say no to Steve, no matter how much it killed him.

Another anniversary passed and another. Tony braced himself for the big fight.

It didn't come.

In October, Steve took him out for beer and bratwurst and didn't complain when Tony drank a little too much. "It's our anniversary," Steve explained to the bartender as he helped Tony wobble back out to the car. "It's worth celebrating."

By their sixth month anniversary, Tony started to get swept up in Steve's enthusiasm. Sixth whole months together. Six consecutive months together. It was better than he had done with Pepper. It was better than he had done with anybody. He was starting to get hopeful about a seventh month, an eighth month, a year, even.

It was easy to forget that the tabloid reporters were still out there. So, a couple magazines ended up with candid photographs of them together. Tony falling on his ass ice-skating in Central Park while Steve doubled over laughing, Steve dabbing whipped cream on the tip of Tony's nose, Tony making a crude replica of Steve out of snow, Steve draping his coat over Tony's shoulder, Tony trying to balance a cup of coffee on his head while Steve hovered anxiously nearby. His favorite was a series of images of Steve grinning as he kissed his cheeks, his forehead, his nose, the back of his hand.

Tony remembered having fun with Steve, remembered the laughter and smiles. But until he saw the pictures, he didn't really understand just how happy they had both been.

Tony didn't care what the magazines had to say. He just cut the pictures out of the articles and they went up on the wall next to Steve's art.

For their seven month anniversary, Steve drove to a small town a few hours outside the city. The little restaurant he selected was quiet, cozy, and best of all, no one seemed to recognize them when they walked in the door.

Steve ordered hot buttered rum for both of them and they sipped leisurely as they waited for their food to arrive. By the time their food was ready, Tony was feeling nice and warm. Partly from the rum, partly from the way Steve whispered in his ear all the things he planned for their next seven months together.

Steve's phone buzzed. "Uh-oh."

"Are we getting called in?"

"Yep." Steve tilted the phone so he could see the Avengers symbol displayed on the screen.

"Why does it have to be now?" Tony complained. "I bet these assholes are doing it on purpose. Waiting until we just sit down to strike."

Steve flagged down the waiter. "Sorry. We're going to need to take this to go."

Tony wanted to weep. All that delicious salmon was going to be cold by the time the battle was over. And it wasn't going to be as good reheated.

"Reheating food is not the end of the world," Steve said. "It's just a small sacrifice to save the day."

Tony huffed. "I bet Superman never had to deal with this shit."

Steve bit his lip and his expression went vacant, the way it usually did when he had a new art idea. So, tomorrow Tony was probably going to find a picture of Clark Kent trying to squeeze a container of take-out into his Superman costume.

Okay, maybe it would all be worth it, just to see that picture.

"I'll be outside," Tony said. He walked around to the side of the building to call up the armor. Steve made his way out the door a few minutes later..

"Need a ride?"

Steve grinned and put his arms around Tony's waist.

Tony took them down right on the edge of the battle. He was a little disappointed there were no alien invaders or superpowered mutants.

They were just a bunch of stupid teenagers wearing masks. Hardly a problem for the Avengers. But apparently mask-wearing teenagers throwing grenades in crowded New York streets were considered terrorists and therefore, Avengers.

"This is the end of the world," said a kid in a Hello Kitty mask. "The city will be destroyed and we will have a new world order. And the Bomb Squad will lead you all in a new direction."

"For fuck's sake," Clint muttered. "The Bomb Squad?"

"Hey, guys," Tony said. "The Bomb Squad is known for defusing bombs. You might want to pick a name a little more terrifying."

Sadly, the only response to his suggestion was that a teen in a tiger mask threw a grenade at him. Tony shifted a little to the right and the grenade missed him completely.

"These aren't toys," Steve said sternly. "You're endangering innocent people. I want all of you to pack up and go back home."

"No," shouted the boy in the Hello Kitty mask. "The Bomb Squad only listens to me. And our reign of terror will continue until the city is cleansed of its sins."

Hulk's fist connected with the leader's face. His mask shattered and he dropped to the ground.

And just like that, the reign of terror was over. The Bomb Squad minions fled down the streets towards the waiting patrol cars.

Out of the corner of his eye, Tony saw one of the fleeing henchmen lob a grenade in Steve's direction.

He jumped in front of Steve without even thinking about it.

The chest plate had been reinforced to absorb explosive impacts, but he found himself thrown back several yards, tumbling head over heels as bits of the armor sprayed up around him. It was a relief when he finally hit hard against a solid wall.

His ears were still ringing from the blast, but he thought he could hear Steve shouting his name in the distance. Then his faceplate was being yanked off and Steve was right there, looking down at him with a wild, frightened expression.

"Hey, babe," Tony croaked out.

Steve visibly relaxed. "Thank god. I thought I lost you."

"Nah. I'm too stubborn to die."

Steve knelt down beside him and gathered him into his arms. "I'm taking you to the hospital."

"No, no hospitals. I made a blood oath never to set foot in one again."

"Tony, this is serious. Your armor is nothing more than scrap metal right now."

Tony fought down the sudden swell of panic. "Jarvis? Jarvis, are you there?"

"I'm here, sir."

"Good to have you here, buddy. How do I look?"

"There doesn't appear to be any broken bones, but I would still suggest-"

"Nothing's broken," Tony said cheerfully. "So, it just looks worse than it is."

Steve still didn't put him down. "Tony, you've been seriously injured. You have to get this checked out."

"I've got plenty of stuff down in the lab. Come on, Steve. I get hurt all the time. Occupational hazard."

"But not like this," Steve said. "There's so much blood." He traced a finger over the seams of the armor, over Tony's exposed chest. "You need medical attention."

"We don't even know what's wrong yet," Tony tried. "Some minor cuts just bleed like geysers, you know. Once I wash off all the blood, I'll be good as new."

"I'll do it," Steve said firmly. "If you're not going to let a doctor take care of you, then I will."

It had been years since Tony had a bath. He always preferred a quick, hot shower. Or a cold shower when necessary.

But Steve insisted that a bath would be easier. Tony found himself draped over the claw foot bathtub nobody had used since Pepper's departure. He removed as much of his armor as he could himself and Steve did all the rest, including peeling him out of his undersuit. And then Steve lowered him carefully down into the warm, soapy water and started scrubbing his arms.

Tony hated that Steve had to see him like this. The first time Steve ever saw him naked, and it was because he was too weak to wash himself. Steve probably resented being a glorified nurse for him.

But Steve just kept scrubbing away the blood as if taking care of Tony like this was the most natural thing in the world. There was no anger in his face, just calm determination. And it was almost enough to reduce Tony to tears. No one had ever wanted to take care of him like this.

"You're so good to me," Tony said. He pressed Steve's hand against his cheek.

Steve smiled and stroked his thumb against Tony's jawline. "I'm going to take good care of you, Tony. You're going to be back on your feet again before you know it."

"I don't deserve you."

"Tony, we are not going to do this."

"I don't know how you manage to put up with me. I contribute absolutely nothing to this relationship. Just look at me. I'm a selfish asshole."

"You must not have looked in the mirror lately. Because the man I see is pretty fantastic. I'd be an idiot if I didn't want him."

Tony snorted. "So I'm pretty hot for a middle-aged man. But looks aren't everything. You could find a thousand men just as pretty as I am. I'm not too proud to admit that. And I'm sure there are even a few smoking hot young men who love nothing more than volunteering at animal shelters and soup kitchens and doing art with disadvantaged children. Yeah, Jarvis looked up your schedule for me. You wake up early every morning to do all those wonderful things and then you come home and I selfishly demand all of your time."

"I want to spend time with you," Steve reminded him. "You're not forcing me to stay."

"But you could be out saving the world right now. You could be doing better things than taking care of a fuck up who couldn't manage to stay out of danger for one fucking battle."

Steve cupped his hands around Tony's face. "Anthony Edward Stark, you listen to me and you listen good. You are not a fuck up. You are not a bad person. You are the most wonderful, most selfless person I have ever met. You've taken on terrorists, rebuilt your company into a leader in lifesaving technology and clean energy, built weapons and lodgings for the entire Avengers team. And you can still make time in your day to hang out with this punk kid from Brooklyn."

"You are so much more than-"

Steve put a finger to his lips. "I'm not finished."

Tony swallowed hard and nodded. Steve's eyes were burning with only a fraction of the rage he directed towards the tabloid reporters, but it was enough to render Tony completely speechless.

"Tony, I don't know what's happened to you to make you see yourself as something so worthless, but I'm going to spend every day for the rest of your life convincing you otherwise."

"You can't, Steve. I won't let you. You give and you give and I just take. How is that fair to you?"

Steve pressed their foreheads together. "You saved my life today, Tony. You were willing to make the sacrifice play. And as much as I hate to see you get hurt, I'm so proud of the wonderfully selfless man you are."

Tony had so much he could say to that. But Steve pulled him into a passionate kiss and well, arguing didn't seem as important anymore.

He could do nothing but cling to Steve and whimper.

It wasn't at all how he had envisioned their first kiss. He was wet, naked, and in a bath tub. And he was getting the front of Steve's uniform soaked with soapy water. These were pretty much the most unsexy circumstances imaginable. But Steve kept kissing him like nothing else mattered.

When they finally broke apart for air, Steve was grinning. "Feeling better?" he asked.

Tony nodded.

"Good." Steve wrapped him in a large, fluffy towel and carried him upstairs to his bedroom. Tony gingerly pulled on a pair of pajamas while Steve went downstairs to make him a cup of hot chocolate. He took a long sip, letting the warmth settle into his bones.

Steve helped him into bed. "I'll be right here if you need anything. And please don't hesitate to ask. Remember, Tony, you're not a burden. I'm happy to take care of you."

Tony watched as Steve settled himself onto the small couch at the foot of the bed. "You don't have to stay, you know. I'll be fine."

Steve shifted around a little more and then pulled the blanket down over himself. "Don't have to, but will anyway. Good-night, Tony."

Tony waited a few minutes before carefully throwing off the covers and getting out of bed. He wasn't sure if Steve was really asleep. He certainly looked like he was, but it didn't exactly look like a peaceful sleep.

"Steve?" he whispered. "Can you really sleep like this?"

Steve rolled over and burrowed further under the blanket.

Of course. He had to be cold. It was just a decorative throw, not really a blanket meant for sleeping, much less in the winter.

Tony had to do something about that.

He pulled the comforter off his bed and draped it over Steve. That had to help. But Steve still looked a little cold so, he crawled in under the blankets and tried to snuggled up beside him. The couch was a lot smaller than the one in the living room so it was a tight squeeze. But Steve murmured something in his sleep and thew his arm over Tony's shoulder and the position became just a little more bearable.


	6. Chapter 6

Tony woke up to find himself somehow lying on top of Steve, his cheek pressed into his chest. Jesus, was this an intimate position. He almost regretted having to get up.

Steve's hand carded through his hair. "Good morning, Tony. Or, afternoon, actually. You had a nice long sleep."

"What time is it?" Tony raised his head just enough to see the clock. A little after two. "Fuck. I'm keeping you from all your orphans and shelter cats."

Steve rubbed his back. "You're more important right now." He pushed himself upright and cradled Tony to his chest. "Jarvis, can we restart the coffee now?"

"Certainly, Captain."

"Let's go find you something to eat," Steve said cheerfully. "Got to keep your strength up." He shifted his grip just a little and walked resolutely towards the stairs. Tony was never going to get over how easy this was for Steve.

Usually, Tony would have gone right back to work after such a (relatively) minor injury. Sure, he'd be a little stiff for a few days, but it was nothing coffee and painkillers couldn't fix.

But he had Steve now. And Steve seemed to be taking his job nursing Tony back to health a little too seriously.

Tony liked the fact that there was always coffee waiting for him when he got up. And he did like the fact that Steve was cooking him breakfast, lunch, and dinner now. He worked a lot better when he was eating full meals. He was willing to admit that, but not quite willing to start cooking for himself. And while it had been a little humiliating at first to have Steve carry him up and down the stairs, he had started to like being curled up in Steve's arms. And he didn't mind that much that Steve was coaxing him away from the computer every night to go to bed. Because Steve had finally come to his senses and started considering Tony's bed as his bed. As he should. Because Tony's bed was the biggest and comfiest in the entire Tower. He had made sure of that.

So, okay. Maybe he liked the fact that Steve was willing to play nurse. It was kind of nice being spoiled and cared for. Maybe a little too nice.

It took Tony a few days to come to a conclusion, but once he did, he dropped his wrench with a gasp and looked upwards.

"Jarvis, Steve's trying to domesticate me."

"Congratulations, sir."

"No, no, no. This isn't a good thing. This is bad. Very bad. I'm going to end up turning into a normal person."

"We can but hope."

"Oh, fuck you."

"I don't think Captain Rogers would appreciate that, sir."

"Jesus. I don't remember giving you a sass upgrade. Maybe it was after you had your little malfunction during the thing last year."

"Ah, yes. The 'thing'. Eloquent as always, sir."

"Or maybe Steve's gotten into you. He's surprisingly sassy for someone from his time."

"It wasn't me," Steve said.

Tony yelped and jerked backwards, nearly tripping over a cluster of wires if not for Steve's hands steadying him.

"Jesus Christ," Tony said. "Give a guy a little warning next time. Heart condition, you know. You could have killed me."

Steve kissed his cheek. "I'm sorry. But it's lunch time. I thought you might be hungry."

Tony waved the wrench in the air. "Damn it, Jarvis. You're supposed to remind me when it's lunch time. And you're supposed to announce when Steve walks in, not let him sneak up on me like a ninja."

"Captain Rogers has been in your workshop for the past four hours. I wouldn't call that sneaking, sir."

"He's been down here for-oh, fuck. So he heard the whole, uh, thing."

"Every word," Steve confirmed.

Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck.

"And for the record," Steve said. "I'm not trying to make you into a normal person. I happen to like the abnormal genius that you are."

"Sass," Tony gasped, clutching at his chest. "My poor heart can't take it."

"I'll kiss it better," Steve said.

Tony wasn't prepared for Steve to slide his grimy tank top over his head and kiss the mass of ugly scar tissue on his chest. He was struck speechless. Well, the pathetic little whimper that escaped his mouth couldn't really be counted as speech.

And then Steve straightened up and offered him a casual smile. "There. All better. I'll see you downstairs in fifteen minutes."

Tony waited until Steve left to slide down the wall and collapse into a heap on the floor. How the fuck did Steve expect him to recover from that in fifteen minutes?

"Shall I inform Captain Rogers that you need a little extra time to take a cold shower?"

Tony jerked upright. "Hell no. Don't tell him that. He'll think I can't control myself."

"I'm sure he already knows you can't."

"Shut up. I can control myself just fine. How long has it been since I've had a drink? Three whole months. Ha, how's that for control?"

"I'll be more impressed after you've abstained for a full year."

"And speaking of a full year, look how long I've gone without sex. Ten fucking months. You ought to be proud, J. I'm keeping my clothes on for once. Damn, if I had known I would fall for Steve like this, I'd have signed myself up for one of those celibate for a year challenges."

"I do not believe he intends to make you wait that long, sir."

"Oh yeah? I bet he's one of those wait until marriage types."

"Perhaps if you had a nice talk with him like an adult, you would find out."

Tony snorted. Yeah, he did reasonable, adult conversations oh so well.

"You're due in the lobby in ten minutes now, sir."

"Shit!" Tony scrambled to his feet and raced for the elevator. Belatedly, he realized he hadn't exactly been paying attention to what Steve was wearing and so had no idea how he should dress for wherever it was that they were going. Oh well, he was just going to throw on jeans and a t-shirt and hope for the best.

He was relieved when he made it back downstairs (in exactly fifteen minutes) and Steve was also wearing jeans.

"Hey, Tony," Steve said cheerfully. "Feel like hanging out in the park today?"

"Sure," Tony said. The park was always great. Steve had made some pretty awesome sketches of the people in the park. Tony was a little bit jealous of the fact that Steve was sketching other people when, hello, he was siting right next to him. Maybe if he started doing heroic poses, Steve would have to sketch him instead.

Steve laughed. "You can pose for me if you want to."

Oh shit, did he really say that out loud?

"Yep," Steve said, an amused twist to his mouth.

Fuck.

Steve slung an arm over his shoulder and steered him towards the front door. "Don't be embarrassed, Tony. It's kind of cute."

"Do I do this all the time?" Tony asked, horrified that he was probably unconsciously telling Steve every goddamn thought that popped into his head.

"Not all the time," Steve said, pressing a kiss to the top of Tony's head as they walked. "Usually when you've had a really long day or when you're hard at work in the lab. So, if you're a little tired today, Tony, I'd understand if-"

"Oh no, no, no," Tony said. He tugged at Steve's hand. "We are going to the park. We're going to eat hot dogs and mustard and ketchup and uh, whatever else goes with hot dogs."

Steve grinned. "You like onions and relish."

"Yeah," Tony said. "Those, too. Onions and relish and ketchup and mustard. Do I like anything else on my hot dog?"

"Nope," Steve said. "That's it."

"Great. Then let's do this."

Steve dutifully ordered hot dogs for both of them and they stretched out under a shady tree.

Tony laced his hands behind his head. "This is the life."

"Sure is," Steve agreed. He kissed Tony's cheek. "The sun, the shade, good food, and the greatest guy in the world at my side."

"Careful," Tony said. "My ego's going to swell up like a parade blimp and then I'll float away."

"I'll make sure to ground you, then." Steve kissed him soundly.

"Yeah," Tony said faintly once they broke apart. "Not helping at all with the floaty feeling."

Kissing was awesome. He didn't do nearly enough with his one-night stands.

And then Steve shifted so he was on top of Tony, pinning him down as he kissed him. Steve was balancing most of his weight on his arms, but Tony could still feel enough of his strength and body heat.

Tony had never liked being under anybody when he had sex. Man or woman, it didn't matter. He was happy in any position as long as he didn't have to feel trapped underneath another body. But with Steve, well. He didn't feel trapped. It was an exhilarating feeling to know that Steve could totally crush him if he wanted to, but he was being careful. Tony could only imagine if he used that great strength in the bedroom.

Nope. Abort, abort. Not going down that road. He was going to think unsexy thoughts, unsexy thoughts.

"Tony?" Steve asked. "Are you alright? You're making a weird face. I'm not hurting you, am I?"

"Oh, no," Tony said. "You're not hurting me. It's just-maybe I am a little more tired than I thought."

Steve nodded and rolled upright, much to Tony's relief (and disappointment). "You've been working yourself too hard again," he said. "I know you lie awake in bed most of the night working on your inventions instead of sleeping."

Well, actually, he was a little more interested in watching Steve sleep and marveling at how Steve could be so comfortable sleeping in his bed and-

Tony eyed Steve furtively. Well, at least it looked like he hadn't said that part out loud. Small mercies.

When they returned to the Tower, Steve insisted on escorting Tony all the way to his bedroom so, unfortunately, Tony couldn't go hide in his workshop like he had hoped. "I'll be down in the gym if you need anything," Steve said. "But, please, Tony. Try to get some rest."

Tony sprawled out across his bed and looked up at the ceiling. "I don't know if I can take this, Jarvis. What if he does want to wait until marriage? And you know how well I'm going to take to marriage. Like a duck taking to a fucking cement pond. It's never going to work. Maybe I should break up with him now, before it gets too serious."

"It's a little too late for that, sir."

"Okay, so Steve thinks I'm adorable and fucking perfect, which means he really needs to get his head checked. And sure, he's invested a lot of time and energy into making sure I'm not a pathetic mess and he's going to be really hurt when I break up with him, but it's for the best, right? I'd only hurt him more if we got married and I'm a careless fucking husband who doesn't remember birthdays and anniversaries or even holidays."

"Sir," Jarvis said gently. "Haven't you been letting Captain Rogers drive you out on dates?"

"Yes, Jarvis. I've been letting him take me on dates. I think that's a little beside the point. Just because-"

"And how many people do you let drive your cars, sir?"

Tony frowned. "Happy, obviously. And Rhodey's driven me home a few times. And then, uh..."

"Captain Rogers."

Tony winced. "I've got it bad, don't I?"

"Yes, sir. So, if the Captain was to ask you to marry him at this very moment?"

Tony swallowed. "Yes. I'd say yes."

Oh god, that was a terrifying thought


	7. Chapter 7

Tony remembered the previous day's conversation with Jarvis when Steve offered to take him out to eat. He sat in silence in the passenger's seat for most of the drive, avoiding Steve's attempts to draw him out into conversation.

"Okay, what's wrong?" Steve asked finally. "Are you mad at me about something?"

"You like driving my car?" Tony blurted out.

"Sure. It's a nice car. But I'm sure you knew that already."

"Yep," Tony said through his teeth. "Best car on the market."

"I'm sure it's got a good sound system, too." Steve reached over and flicked on the radio.

Robert Palmer suddenly filled the car. "Your heart sweats and teeth grind. Another kiss and you'll be mine."

Tony immediately reached over to turn it off, but Steve swatted his hand away. "I like this one," he said. "And it's almost over anyway."

Tony huffed and slouched down in the seat as Steve began singing along with the radio.

"You like to think that you're immune to the stuff. It's closer to the truth to say you can't get enough. You know you're gonna have to face it you're addicted to love."

Tony took a deep breath as the song started to fade. Thank god. He really wasn't in the mood for stupid songs about love right now.

And then "Think I'm in Love" started up.

"Are you kidding me?" Tony growled. Even his car was conspiring against him now.

"What?" Steve asked.

"I can't do this right now. Turn it off."

"You don't like my music?" Steve asked, sounding just a little hurt.

Fuck.

Tony sighed. "I never thought I'd say this, but can we talk like adults instead of just listening to the radio?"

"Oh," Steve said. "Sure." He clicked off the radio. "So, what did you want to talk about, Tony?"

Tony really, really didn't want to have this conversation now. There was nowhere to hide if he didn't like the answer. But they were going to have to talk about it eventually and he might as well man up and do it now.

"Steve," he said. "You've been a great boyfriend so far. But, just so we're clear, Pepper's not paying you to date me, right? I mean, you all saw how much shit I got into after we broke up and it'd be understandable if you'd decide to pretend to like me just to keep me stable and for team dynamics and-"

"I would never do that to you," Steve said. "That's some messed up supervillain shit."

Tony gasped. "Did you just-did that word actually come out of your mouth?"

"Yep." Steve's eyes were still firmly fixed on the road, but Tony swore he saw a mischievous twinkle in them.

"Holy shit. I've reduced Captain America to cursing. I'm not exactly sure what this says about me." He also didn't know what it said about him that he found it kind of hot.

"I've cussed before," Steve insisted.

"No you haven't."

"Yes. I distinctly remember a couple of damnit, Tonys."

"See? You're just proving my point. I, Tony Stark, have reduced the great, noble, virginal-"

The tires squealed as Steve abruptly pulled over to the side of the road.

Tony shifted nervously in his seat. "Uh, Steve? We're not going to get a table by the big windows like this."

"I don't care about the windows," Steve said roughly. "This has always been about you, Tony."

Tony expected Steve to start yelling at him. But instead Steve yanked him half out of his seat and kissed him violently as if he was channeling all of his frustration into it. Tony squirmed out of his seatbelt and attempted to straddle Steve's hips.

They jerked apart as the horn blared.

Tony laughed. "That must be the virginity alarm."

Steve sighed. "I'm not a virgin."

Tony raised an eyebrow. "Really? You and Peggy or you and Bucky?"

"Neither, I'm afraid." Steve's mouth twisted wistfully. "After the serum,the girls started practically throwing themselves at me. And, well, after all those years of being laughed at and never getting girls to give me the time of day, it was hard to resist. My first time was with a nurse named Susan. And I really regret it. She just wanted a quickie and I really had no idea what I was doing. I don't think either of us enjoyed it very much," Steve finished glumly. "I think she was even bleeding a little afterward. She said she was fine, but she never talked to me again."

"So, that's why you're not trying to have sex with me?"

Steve nodded. "I don't want to hurt you, Tony."

"You won't hurt me," Tony said. "I trust you to be careful."

Steve smiled sadly. "How can you? You don't even trust my feelings for you."

Shit.

Tony leaned his head on Steve's shoulder. "Baby, you are the most trustworthy person in the entire universe. And I know you would never try to hurt me. I'm just not used to people like you. Everyone always wants something from me. An interview, a fancy dress, a boost for their reputation. But, you've never asked for anything. You just want to hang out and cuddle. It's weird to me."

"And that's a shame," Steve said. "People shouldn't view you as a walking wallet. If they took the time to see the man behind the accomplishments, they'd never want to use you like that."

Tony's mouth twisted wryly. "Or they'd realize they were better off not knowing. Story of my life, Steve. People are better kept at a distance."

"I don't want to hear that kind of talk," Steve said sternly. "You are a wonderful person and anyone who doesn't take the time to discover that is an idiot."

Tony laced his hands behind his neck. "So, you're calling my old man an idiot? You had a lot of good things to say about him back in the day."

"It's not going to work, Tony," Steve said. He pulled Tony onto his lap, shifting him so they didn't set off the horn again. "Nothing you say is going to convince me that you're worthless and unlovable." He stroked Tony's hair. "I want you to trust me, Tony. I want you to believe that I want to be with you for you. That I want a relationship, not just a quick tumble in bed. Not as a favor, not as a bribe, and not because I expect anything in return. It hurts my heart that that's all you've come to expect from people."

Tony sighed and rested his head on Steve's shoulder. "Most people aren't like you, all noble and self-sacrificing. The rest of us are selfish assholes."

Steve kissed his forehead. "No sacrifice involved. I'm happy to spend as much time with you as possible."

"Even when I'm being impossibly angsty?"

"Especially when you're being impossibly angsty. Because that means I get to make it better."

Tony snorted. "You're a sap."

"Sure am. Now, we're going to grab some lunch and head back home. We have some things to talk about."

"The sex thing?"

Steve nodded.

Tony sighed. That's what he had been afraid of.

When they got back home, Tony immediately tried to bolt for the workshop.

Steve grabbed his arm. "Where do you think you're going? We're going to have our talk now."

"The workshop's a great place to talk," Tony offered. "I can have Jarvis put it on lockdown so we have complete privacy."

"And you're not going to listen to a single thing I say because you're going to get too distracted with all your projects."

Fuck. Steve knew him too well.

"Kitchen?" Steve suggested.

"Hell no." Tony didn't have a lot of shame, but talking in the kitchen, where the super secret spy twins could walk in at any minute, well, he was just a little cautious about giving them things they could tease him about.

The compromise ended up being Tony's bedroom. So there they were, two grown men sitting on the edge of the bed eating sandwiches, and avoiding each other's gaze as they ate. It was just like high school again.

Steve finished pretty quickly and then crumpled up the sandwich wrapper. He didn't say anything, but Tony could feel Steve's eyes on him. Waiting expectantly.

So Tony dawdled, hoping Steve would be polite enough to wait until he was done to start in on him, but Steve crossed his arms over his chest and said, "Tony, I need you to hear me out."

Fucking hell. Tony didn't want to hear this. He didn't want to hear Steve bare his soul to him and tell him how long it took for him to discover that he found him attractive, that he had feelings for him, that he might one day contemplate having sex with him.

Because Tony would have nothing meaningful to say to that. He would have been willing to have sex with Steve on their very first date. Hell, he would have been willing to have sex with him that day on the hellicarrier when they could barely stand each other. Because Tony was pretty much willing to fuck anything with a pulse.

And for Steve, it had to be something special. Tony knew that already. But to hear him say that would kill him. So, he had to do whatever possible to distract Steve and avoid the conversation.

When Steve opened his mouth to speak again, Tony yanked him down into a bruising kiss.

Steve let out a surprised grunt, but he kissed back enthusiastically. And as Steve pressed him down against the bed, Tony swore that he was half-hard.

Aha, now he knew what he could do. He was going to avoid the awkward sex talk by getting Steve to have sex with him. It was a brilliant plan.

He pawed at Steve's belt. Steve swatted his hand away and pinned his hips down against the mattress.

"Is this really what you want?" Steve asked.

"Yes," Tony ground out. "Just fucking touch me. I'm not glass, you know. You're not going to hurt me."

It was a little difficult to undress a supersoldier who was really, really resistant to getting naked. Tony wasn't exactly sure how it had happened, but somehow, he managed to lose his pants and underwear while Steve remained completely clothed.

He had a lot to say about the disappointing turn of events, but then Steve's hand wrapped around his cock.

And oh god, it felt amazing. Steve's rough, calloused hands provided just the right amount of friction. He whimpered and arched upwards into Steve's touch. It had been so long. So goddamn long since he had had sex. And this was even better than he remembered.

"I know, baby," Steve murmured. "I know how long you've been waiting for this. You've been so good, so patient. I'm proud of you."

"Steve," Tony said breathlessly. How the fuck was this real life? This had to be some sort of sex dream. But there was no way he could have imagined Steve's firm grip and his confident strokes. Jesus Christ, he really knew what he was doing.

It seemed like no time at all before he was spilling into Steve's hand with a high-pitched whine. Steve held him through the aftershocks of his orgasm, whispering all those nice nonsense words about how gorgeous he was. And Steve even cleaned him up a little bit, which was really nice because Tony couldn't move to save his life at the moment.

When Tony managed to pry his eyelids open, Steve was sitting right beside him, a serious expression on his face.

"Now we're going to talk."

Fuck. He had forgotten how lethargic he always felt after sex. So now he was too blissed out to move and Steve was in perfect control of himself.

Great plan, Tony. Great fucking plan.


	8. Chapter 8

"Sure," Tony said. "Let's talk about how good you are at handjobs. Because you're a natural. For real."

Steve shrugged. "I used to do this with Bucky all the time."

"You scamp. You let me believe that nurse was your only experience."

"I don't see how jerking a guy off counted towards losing my virginity."

Tony gasped. "He never reciprocated? What a bastard."

"He tried," Steve said. "I had an asthma attack in the middle of it." His mouth twisted ruefully. "Kind of ruined the moment."

"And after the serum?"

Steve sighed. "I didn't know my body well enough. I was too afraid I might end up hurting him. Just like that poor nurse."

"Should have let Bucky take care of you first," Tony muttered.

"Maybe I should have. But, it doesn't matter now. Because I'm with you."

Tony patted Steve's cheek. "You're too selfless, you know. Always worrying about the rest of us. Who's going to worry about you? You should be coming home to a beautiful wife who'll patch you up and cook you dinner after a long day of fighting bad guys."

Steve sighed. "I don't want a housewife."

"You can get a househusband instead. There's plenty of gorgeous guys out there who would love-"

Steve put his hand over Tony's mouth. "I don't want them," he said. "I just want you."

Tony swallowed. The intensity in Steve's gaze was making his stomach do gymnastics and it was way too soon for his body to think about another erection, but his dick was valiantly trying.

"I want you," Steve continued. "No matter what circumstances life throws at us. No matter what trouble we're in, I'll always have your back. And nothing you do or say is ever going to change that. I love you, Tony, and I'm going to keep loving you for the rest of my life."

Tony blinked a few times. Some dust in his eye. That was all. "For the rest of your life? Is this...are you thinking of proposing to me?"

"Do you want me to?"

"Yeah," Tony said quietly. "I didn't think I was capable of loving anybody, but you might just be the one."

Steve pulled him into a tight embrace. "I'm glad."

"But I expect a proper proposal. And a big-ass diamond because I'm a classy dame."

Steve smiled. "I'll see what I can do."

"So, we need to celebrate our future engagement," Tony said. He grasped a handful of Steve's shirt. "I want this off."

Steve shrugged his shirt off over his head.

Note to self: so much easier to get Steve naked when he was a willing participant.

Steve lay back down against the bed and pulled Tony against his side. Tony ran a proprietary hand down his chest, delighting in the way his muscles jumped under his hands. "You're hot as hell," Tony said. "And you're all mine. Every goddamn inch."

He slid his hand over the bulge in Steve's pants and Steve groaned. "It's okay, Tony. You don't need to do anything for me. I know how much sex takes out of you."

"Steve, darling. You're good, but not that good."

"It's really not necessary, Tony."

"Come on, Steve. Don't be a martyr. You're hard as hell."

Steve stared up at the ceiling. "No, not really," he said.

"Only half-mast, eh? Goddamn, you're big." Tony rubbed his hands together in glee. "I can't wait to get that monster inside me."

Steve jerked away from him. "Not today, Tony."

Tony huffed. "I already told you that you're not going to hurt me. I've been around the block a few times, babe."

Steve cupped Tony's face in his hands. "Tony, I know you. I know if I end up hurting you, you'll just grin and bare it and pretend like nothing's wrong. And then I'll just keep hurting you over and over again because I won't know any better. I never want that to happen."

"It's not going to happen," Tony insisted.

"Yes," Steve said quietly. "You would never tell me if I hurt you. You'd be too worried about hurting my feelings to consider your own. And you'd probably be convinced that if you said a word, we'd never have sex again."

Tony opened his mouth to protest, but then closed it immediately. Well, it did sort of sound like something he would do.

"You see?" Steve said. "I'm doing this for your own good."

"You can't avoid sex forever," Tony said. "And you can't expect me to, either. I love you to distraction, but if I have to go another year without sex, I'm going to have to start spiking your protein shakes with Viagra."

"I'm not asking you to wait forever," Steve said. "Just until I can be sure of my self-control."

"And how the hell is that supposed to work? You going to go out and test yourself on some more dumb nurses?"

Steve sighed. "I know you don't understand, Tony, but just humor me for now. I want the first time we have sex to be a wonderful experience for both of us. So, you just need to be patient for a little longer."

And thus began another few of the most frustrating months in Tony's life.

It wasn't sexual frustration anymore. It was just Steve's goddamn stubbornness.

Almost every night, Steve would cuddle with him in bed for a few hours and then kiss him and murmur sweet nothings to him while he jerked him off. And that part was all fine and good. Tony liked being kissed. He liked hearing how wonderful Steve thought he was. And he really, really liked Steve's hands on his cock. They were nice hands.

But the problem was, Steve almost never let him reciprocate. In three months, Steve had only let Tony get him off four times. And that was after a truly shameful amount of whining. It was irritating as hell because Tony loved Steve and he wanted him to be happy and feel good. And, hell, he wasn't as good at handjobs as Steve was, but he knew what he was doing. He was much better at blowjobs, but that was totally out of the question. Too dangerous, Steve said.

So, Steve just jerked him off and then rolled over to go to sleep. Tony sulked for awhile about how Steve was being such a martyr about his own needs, but then he realized what was really going on. Steve only touched him at night.

So, this was Steve's new plan to get him sleeping at night. Well, Tony wasn't going to accept that. He wanted sex as sex. And if Steve thought he was going to get away with a handjob every night for the rest of his life, he had another thing coming. Tony was going to stay awake all night now just to spite him.

It probably wasn't the best plan, because after three days without sleep, Tony was starting to feel a little haggard. He didn't have any exciting new projects to distract him from his exhaustion. The days just drug on and on and on.

In the wee hours of the morning on day four, Tony stumbled into the kitchen to get a cup of extra-strength coffee only to realize he wasn't alone.

Natasha and Clint were both in the kitchen, because of course they were. They probably got up every morning while it was still dark and snuck around the house spying on everyone else while they slept. Tony was grateful he never talked in his sleep.

"You're up early," Clint said. "What's the occasion?"

Tony managed something like a wave in greeting as he shuffled his way over to the coffee pot. "Nothing. Just haven't gone to bed yet. Steve mistakenly believes sex will put me to sleep and I am determined to prove him wrong."

"What?" Clint yelped. "You two are fucking?"

Tony sighed. "It was only a handjob."

Only a handjob. The story of his goddamn life.

"No, no. Hold on," Clint said. "I don't think I was really prepared to hear this. Tell me again." He took a sip of his orange juice.

"Uh, it was only a handjob?"

Clint did a spit take across the kitchen counter. "Oh my god," he said. "I can't believe it."

Natasha wrinkled her nose. "Gross."

Clint grinned widely. "Damn, Tony. How did it go, introducing Cap to the wonders of sex?"

Tony frowned. "I'm more than eighty years too late for that. Steve was a teenager too, you know."

"Aw, that's too bad," Natasha said. "Must be devastating not being able to teach him all your tricks."

"No, no. I like that he has a little experience. Who wants an awkward fumbling virgin with superstrength? I still feel a little sorry for Steve's first go."

"Never thought about it like that," Clint said. "And I hope I never do again."

Tony took a sip of his coffee. "Well, you asked."

Steve arrived in the kitchen just as Tony was finishing his third cup of coffee. "There you are, Tony. I woke up and you were gone. The bed's pretty cold without you."

Tony allowed Steve to pull him against his chest. Ah, he was so nice and warm. Why was he complaining about the cold when he was pretty much a goddamn heater?

Clint snickered. "Warmth. Sure, that's what you're missing. Sure you're not just missing the morning sex?"

Steve looked startled. "What? It's not like that. Tony and I-"

Tony waved him off. "Morning sex is overrated. Mornings are overrated."

"Keep telling yourself that,"Clint said. He leaned down to whisper something in Natasha's ear. She laughed and then the two of them exited the kitchen, still smirking smugly.

Tony sighed. "So, that went pretty much just as I expected." He reached for another cup of coffee.

"You told them we were having sex?"

Tony shrugged. "I was tired of all the snide comments from the peanut gallery." He stifled a yawn. "Clint's always on about what we do all night. So, now he can stop pestering me."

Steve kissed the top of his head. "Come on, let's get you back to bed."

Tony allowed Steve to lead him back upstairs to the bedroom and snuggle up with him again. Steve was so nice and warm and his deep, even breaths were soothing. It would be so easy to fall asleep in Steve's arms. But he remembered his mission. He wasn't going to sleep until Steve knocked off the bullshit not-really-sex sex.

When Steve got out of bed an hour later, he pretended he was sleeping. And as soon as Steve went out for his morning run, Tony escaped down to the workshop.

"Jarvis, lock it down," Tony said.

"Sir," Jarvis warned. "You have been awake for more than eighty hours. You must sleep."

"Sleep," Tony said with a disdainful snort. "That's all you and Steve think about. Sleep, sleep, sleep. I'll be fine. I'll sleep when I want to, not when you want me to. And I'm going to eat lunch when I get hungry, not when Steve decides to take me out."

"Sir, you are being irrationally hostile to Captain Rogers. I don't advise that you say such things to him. You will only regret them when you come back to your senses."

"Fine, then. Why don't you tell him I'm not eating lunch with him today since I'm apparently too unstable to handle interacting with him?"

Jarvis sighed. "Unfortunately, that might be for the best."

Tony rolled his eyes and started up the coffee machine down in the lab. He wasn't sure what he was going to work on. He felt so goddamn tired and his brain didn't want to focus on anything. Even the coffee wasn't enough to keep him going.

Eventually, he just sat down at the workbench and stared at his tools, trying to make some sort of sense of things. Was this really a wrench or a big fork? Tony didn't know anymore.

Jarvis' voice cut through the mental fog. "Sir," Jarvis said, sounding slightly panicked. "Sir, please respond."

Tony jerked his head up and stared in surprise at the five large, furry creatures standing around his workbench.

So now his workshop was being invaded by evil mole people. Just fucking great.

He grabbed the nearest tool he could find to defend himself. "Alright, back off," he said. "Go invade someplace else."

"Sweetheart, I need you to put down the blowtorch," said one of the moles.

Tony blinked a few times. "Steve?"

"Yes, Tony."

"How do you sound just like him? Did you eat him?" He prayed that Steve had gone relatively painlessly.

One of the other moles started laughing and he aimed the blowtorch at the offending creature. "You think that's funny, do you? Oh, yes. I'm sure murder is a barrel of laughs for your kind."

"Tony," the Steve-mole said slowly. "It's me. It's Steve."

"Shit," Tony said. "How did they turn you into a mole person?" His eyes narrowed. Or was it just another trick? Maybe the Steve-swallowing mole person's big evil plan was to eat Steve and then somehow convince everyone he was Steve. Tony wasn't exactly sure how that plan was going to come together, but it was just evil enough that it might work.

"Oh god, he's hallucinating," said the Bruce-mole.

"Brucie," Tony said sadly. "They got you, too?"

So, they weren't going to science their way out of it now. But as long as...He froze and recounted the moles. Five. Oh holy shit. "Jesus Christ," Tony said. "I'm the last one left. Jarvis, give me a suit."

"No, Tony," said the Clint-mole. "No suit." He put a paw on Tony's shoulder and pulled the blowtorch out of his hand. "You're going to come upstairs with us and-"

"Hell no," Tony said. "I'm not going quietly." He jabbed the mole in the stomach and then tackled him to the ground.

"Tony, stop," the Bruce-mole pleaded.

Tony wrapped his hands around the Clint-mole's throat. "What did you do with Clint, huh?"

Something hard hit him in the back of his head and he glanced back to see Natasha standing over him, brandishing the discarded blowtorch."That is Clint, you idiot. Let him go."

Tony looked back down. He was horrified when the mole-form shifted into Clint's familiar face. "Oh my god," he said, letting go immediately.

Thor yanked him to his and dragged him a good distance away from Clint.

He could only watch as Natasha crouched beside Clint, cradling him against her chest and murmuring Russian endearments.

"Oh my god," Tony said. "I almost killed Clint."

"Almost is such a strong word," Clint rasped.

"Easy," Natasha said. "Don't try to talk yet." She jerked her head in Thor's direction. "Get him out of here. He's done enough damage already."

"I'll take him," Steve said. He slung Tony over his shoulder and started up the stairs.

"I don't deserve you," Tony wailed into Steve's shirt. "Just throw me off the top of the Tower and be done with me."

Steve dumped him onto the bed and glared at him. "Yes, you do. This is the shit that happens when you start doubting it." He put two little pills on the bedside. "Since you are too stubborn to listen to me or your own body, you're going to take these and you're going to sleep anyway. You understand me?"

"Yes," Tony said in a small voice. He took the pills.


	9. Chapter 9

When he woke up, Steve was standing beside the bed, looking down at him with a sorrowful expression that Tony hated to see on his face. But, he supposed it couldn't be helped. He had almost killed one of their teammates. Of course Steve was disappointed in him.

He swallowed hard. "So, I really fucked up this time, didn't I?"

Steve sighed. "I know you didn't mean to hurt Clint. You were just too far gone to know any better. But I hate that you let yourself get to that point. Why won't you take care of yourself, Tony?"

Tony avoided Steve's eyes. "Uh, I was going without sleep because you were going without sex?"

Steve stared at him. "You worked yourself to the point of collapse because I'm not having sex with you?"

Tony winced. "It sounds so much worse when you put it that way."

Steve shook his head. "I can't believe you. This is the kind of thing you talk about like an adult, instead of going off and doing something drastic."

"I tried talking to you. I tried a million goddamn times. But you won't listen to reason. I'm not asking you to fuck me. I mean, yes I am, but I understand that you're not going to do it. But you have to at least let me jerk you off sometimes. I'm trying to be a better, less selfish person and it's bullshit that you give me so much without letting me give anything back."

Steve's shoulder slumped. "I'm sorry, Tony. I should have been listening to you. Then maybe we could have avoided this whole mess."

"Hey, no," Tony said indignantly. "I tried choking Clint out. That's my bad, not yours."

Steve shook his head. "I endangered the team. You could have collapsed from exhaustion and Clint could have very well died. I should have been paying attention to how miserable you were."

"And I should have acted like a grown-ass adult and not gone on a sleep strike in the first place. Now, can we not turn this into a martyring competition? I hate when we do that."

"Okay," Steve said. But he still looked dejected.

Tony tried to crack a smile. "So, uh, what do you get someone to say sorry for almost choking them to death?"

"You don't need to get Clint anything. Just make an honest apology and don't do it again."

"I can't go see Clint empty-handed," Tony hissed. "Natasha will kill me."

"She's not going to kill you."

"Didn't you see how angry she was?" As far as Tony recalled, everyone else had reacted with horror and shock and she had responded with angry death glares.

"She's not going to kill you," Steve insisted. "But I'll go with you if you're that worried."

Tony looked away. "How bad was it? Did he have to go to the hospital? I have a fund set up for any sudden medical-"

"He's fine. His voice might be a little raspy for awhile, but otherwise, he's made a full recovery. So, Natasha isn't as upset as she was initially."

Tony exhaled loudly. Good. He would never forgive himself if he had caused Clint serious harm. Just that brief scare was horrifying enough.

He allowed Steve to nudge him out of bed and in the direction of the doorway. But on the elevator ride to Clint and Natasha's floor, he made sure to order Natasha a pair of crimson stilettos. The perfect shade to hide a little bloodstain.

Yes, yes, Steve had told him that he didn't need to buy forgiveness. But Steve tended to be a little too trusting sometimes. Natasha would probably plot ways to kill Tony even while she was giving Steve her word that she wasn't going to hurt him.

Natasha was sitting on Clint's nightstand when they entered the room. Tony had his phone set to the page with the stilettos to use as a shield just in case she tried attacking. But she just regarded them coolly as Steve pushed Tony closer to Clint's bedside.

Tony swallowed. "Hey, Clint. I, uh, I'm really sorry about the whole confusing you for a mole and trying to choke you out thing. It wasn't my proudest moment."

"You think?" Natasha said disdainfully.

Tony cleared his throat. "And I promise never to do that again."

Clint nodded solemnly. "If you hallucinate mole people again, you have a serious problem."

Tony winced at the sound of Clint's voice. He sounded like he had smoked five packs of cigarettes a day since he was five.

"And I promise that I'll make it up to you anyway I can," Tony added hastily. "I don't know what you need, a new bow, new arrows?"

"Tony," Steve said sternly. "Remember what I said about buying forgiveness."

"I can't help it." He just felt so guilty and throwing money at the problem would help him feel a little better about the whole thing.

Clint waved him off. "You should spar with me sometime. It's surprising how easily you kicked my ass, considering how fried you were."

Natasha smiled and nodded. "It'll be good training for you."

Well, if having Clint kick his ass a few times would get Natasha to forgive him, Tony would do it.

After that, things finally got back to normal. Well, as normal as possible, considering they were well, them. Normal meant taking out garbage-themed villains, fighting everyone off for the first taste of Steve's newest dish, and convincing Thor that, no, he really, really didn't want to try karaoke, and no, it was not the same thing as karate, Clint was lying to him.

And for Tony, normal had finally become getting Steve off every night.

He didn't know why Steve had been so resistant to sex when he clearly enjoyed it so much. Steve was always in a better mood after sex. His smile was brighter and his whole body seemed loose and relaxed. So Tony made sure to jump him down in the lab at least once a week. Because sex didn't have to be on a bed in the middle of the night. That was boring and vanilla and Tony was absolutely not boring and vanilla.

And now they were cuddling a lot more at night since Steve didn't have an uncomfortable boner to worry about.

They still weren't having penetrative sex, but Tony found that he didn't mind as much now that Steve was having sex. Huh. He really was becoming a better, less selfish person.

Tony found that new ideas were coming to him a lot easier now that he wasn't so frustrated with Steve. He had already gone through a couple modifications to Steve's shield and costume because he loved his boyfriend and he got the good stuff first. Then he made more modifications to his armor and finally started in on new gear for Natasha and Clint. It wasn't because he still felt guilty about the Mole Incident. Well, maybe not entirely because he felt guilty. They did need new gear, too.

A knock on the workshop door startled him out of his thoughts.

He glanced towards the clock. Ten a.m? Oh, hell no. Ten was way too early for lunch. The only people who ate lunch at ten were the elderly and people who got up at the fucking crack of dawn. And Tony was neither, thank you very much. But if Steve really wanted to set himself up for the old man jokes, who was Tony to stop him?

Tony opened the workshop door and was surprised not to see Steve waiting for him in the hallway. Instead, there was a little drawing of Captain America holding his shield above his head like an umbrella and the words "Meet me upstairs" underneath.

Okay, then.

He rode the elevator upstairs and when the doors slid open, he was greeted with an image of Iron Man firing his repulsor towards an unseen enemy off to the left of the paper.

What the hell was this, a scavenger hunt? Because Tony knew very well where their shared bedroom was. He didn't need a map, even when he was at his most sleep-deprived/drunk. It was the big door all the way down the left side of the hallway. Really hard to miss that.

But he dutifully followed the line of pictures pointing to the left because he would never get tired of looking at Steve's drawings.

On the bedroom door was a drawing of the two of them with their arms slung around each other, grinning from ear to ear. He traced the outlines of their bodies with one finger. These were probably just throwaway sketches for Steve, just something for this silly game of his. But they were all so amazing and Tony was going to make damn sure not a single one of them got thrown out afterward. They were all going up on the wall as part of his Shrine to Steve's Superior Art Skills.

Tony pushed open the bedroom door and was rewarded with a glimpse of Steve in the process of pulling on a pair of jeans.

Scavenger hunt: totally worth it.

Steve looked startled to see him. He hastily pulled up his pants and stuck his hands bashfully into his pockets. "Uh, hi, Tony," he said. "I didn't expect you up here so quickly. You looked like you were pretty busy."

"You thought I'd waste some time pitching a fit, you mean."

"Hey, I didn't say that."

Tony hooked his fingers through Steve's belt loops and pulled him closer. Steve obligingly tilted his head downward to kiss him.

All too soon, Steve pulled back from the kiss and reached down for the shirt he had laid on the bed.

"Do you really have to put on a shirt?" Tony pawed at Steve's chest. "It's such a shame to cover up all this glorious hotness."

Steve's mouth quirked with amusement. "Does the phrase 'no shirt, no shoes, no service' mean anything to you?"

"They'd probably make an exception for you. Because who in their right mind wants to cover up those abs?"

Steve just laughed and pulled the shirt over his head.

Damn. At least he had tried.

Tony made sure to change his clothes as slowly as possible because Steve was watching and he enjoyed feeling Steve's heated gaze on him as he stripped down. Ha, he bet Steve wished he could take back his comment about shirts being mandatory now.

He smoothed his shirt down with a smug smile at the yearning in Steve's eyes. "Alright. All ready to go." He held out his hand to Steve.

Steve just stared at him, both hands still stuffed in his pockets.

"Uh, Steve? Aren't we going out?"

"What? Oh, sorry." Steve bent his arm and offered it to Tony.

Tony blinked at him. "What are you doing?"

"Offering to escort you downstairs."

Right. So Steve was going to make him play the damsel now. That was irritating. But Tony curled a hand around Steve's bicep and gently squeezed his arm. Well, okay. Maybe this wasn't as bad as he thought. Any reason to touch Steve's muscles was a good thing.

Steve walked him downstairs and out the front door. So, somewhere within walking distance.

"Where are we going?"

"The little Thai place up the street."

Tony eyed him suspiciously. "You hate Thai food."

"No, I don't. I don't like it as much as you do, but I don't hate it. Hate is such a strong word."

"Okay, what are you up to?"

"Nothing," Steve said.

Tony wasn't buying it. Steve was a terrible liar. "You're up to something nefarious, aren't you? There's no other reason you'd be eating Thai food."

Steve sighed. "It's because I know you love Thai food. Can't I do something just because you like it?"

"Is that the only reason? You're not being self-sacrificing now so you can be mad at me later?"

Steve gave him a look. "Do you really think I'd do something like that to you?" He shook his head. "I just figure if you're going to try to be a better, more selfless person, then so should I."

"Oh no you don't. You're already too selfless as it is. You get any more selfless and you'll start hacking off you own body parts to replace mine."

"I would never do that," Steve said. "How would I take care of you if I didn't have a body?"

"Yeah, it's pretty hard to take care of someone if you're dead." And Tony shuddered at the thought.

Steve pulled him into an embrace. "Don't be so morbid, Tony. We're supposed to be out enjoying ourselves."

Tony nodded. With Steve's arms wrapped around him, it was harder to think such negative thoughts.

It was even harder to feel negative after his belly was full of coconut curry. He leaned against Steve as they walked out of the restaurant, feeling warm and content.

"Hey, looks like a new exhibit opened up at the Rose Quartz," Steve said casually, pointing across the street.

The Rose Quartz was a little rose garden that showcased works from local artists on the weekends. Steve had talked about what a wonderful idea it was to see the paintings set up amongst the flowers like living art. Tony didn't see the appeal, but then again, he had never really cared about art.

"It's an interesting concept," Steve said.

Tony's eyes drifted over to the sign proclaiming the newest art display by some guy Tony had never heard of. But then he saw the little statue placed near the sign. It was painted up like a normal little boy with his arm extended to throw a tennis ball. But the arm holding the tennis ball was gleaming metal. And as Tony watched, the arm wound back as if he had just caught the ball instead.

"Holy shit," he said. "We have to take a look." And Steve chuckled as Tony half-dragged him into the garden.

There were sculptures everywhere, ranging from twisted pieces of brass hammered into a vaguely humanoid shape to very realistic-looking robotic shells with wires protruding from the seams.

Now this was the kind of art he could get behind.

Tony must have spent a good half an hour poring over every piece in the collection while Steve stood back, smiling indulgently. At last, Steve dragged him away before Tony was tempted to buy the entire lot.

Steve led Tony to the big tree in the middle of the garden and they stretched out on the grass and admired the artwork from afar.

"Admit it," Tony said. "This was your evil plan all along."

Steve smiled. "Part of it, anyway. I still have another surprise for you."

"There's more?" Tony didn't think the date could get any better.

"Oh, yes," Steve said. "It gets better."

Tony scrambled to his feet. "Then let's blow this Popsicle stand."

"Wait."

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Steve slowly tuck his legs under him. Tony rolled his eyes skyward. He had a whole bunch of grandpa jokes prepared for when Steve finally got to his feet.

Except Steve wasn't getting up.

And when Tony looked down, Steve was on one knee, holding a little velvet box in his hand.

Tony gasped. "Oh my god," he said. "This is really happening. You're actually proposing to me. I know we talked about this, but oh my god this is actually happening."

Steve reached out to stroke his thigh. "Deep breaths," he said. "Deep breaths."

Tony sucked in a breath. "Oh my god," he said again. He probably sounded like an excited teenage girl at this point, but he couldn't bring himself to care.

"You going to be okay?" Steve asked. "You're not having a panic attack, are you?"

Tony shook his head. "No, I'm just-" He closed his eyes and took another deep breath, focusing on Steve's gentle caress. "I'm good."

Steve raised an eyebrow. "You sure?"

"Yeah, I really want to hear this."

Steve smiled fondly. "Tony, you are the love of my life. When I woke up in this century, I thought I had nothing. But you've become everything to me. Every day I spend with you is the best day of my life. So I promise to love and protect you for the rest of our days. Anthony Edward Stark, will you marry me?"

"Hell yes," Tony said. He threw himself at Steve and the two of them tumbled back into the grass.

Tony pressed frantic kisses to every inch of Steve he could get his mouth on.

"Hold on, Tony," Steve laughed. "I haven't even given you your ring yet."

Tony stilled and held out his hand.

Steve slipped the ring onto his finger. "There we go. My future husband." He kissed the back of Tony's hand. "You like it?"

Tony nodded. It was a nice thick band of black gold studded with little rubies. "You know how I love red," he said.

"It took a little while because I had to custom order it." Steve sighed. "Most of the engagement rings I saw were for women. And the ones that were for men looked really cheap. I thought you'd appreciate something a little more sophisticated."

"Hell yeah," Tony said. "I really do appreciate it." He held his hand up and turned it so the rubies caught the light.

Steve beamed and pulled Tony against his side. "I'll make scallops for dinner so we can celebrate."

"Jesus," Tony said. "You are spoiling the fuck out of me today."

"Better get used to it," Steve said. "I plan on spending the rest of my life spoiling you. You deserve it."


	10. Chapter 10

Tony was happy to walk hand in hand with Steve all the way home. The entire way, Steve kept kissing his neck and whispering in his ear all the ways he was going to spoil him. By the time they made it back to the Tower, Tony was ready to melt into a puddle on the ground. Oh, the things Steve did to him.

Steve headed straight for the kitchen because apparently the first thing on the list was making Tony a chocolate sundae.

"Congratulations on your engagement, sir," Jarvis said as they entered the room. He played a few sound clips of people clapping and blowing noise makers.

Tony grinned. "Thanks, J."

Clint poked his head in through the door. "What are we celebrating, your future baby?"

"What? Who said anything about a baby?"

"Well, the Sun's reporting that you're pregnant. Because that's the only reasonable explanation for why you stopped drinking."

Tony snatched the magazine from Clint's hand and glared at the front cover. As a further insult, the photoshopped belly was particularly sloppy work. "Steve," he growled. "You need to have another talk with the media."

"Ignore it," Steve said. "The Sun prints stories about fifty-pound babies and talking cats. Who's going to believe anything they say?"

Tony huffed. "Some fiance you are. Well, when we actually get married, it's going to be your job to protect me from all the ridiculous stories about me."

Steve grinned as he kissed Tony's cheek. "Of course, darling. I'll make sure to burn the papers before you see them."

Clint's eyes widened. "Oh my god, you finally got engaged? Congrats, dude." He thumped Tony's back. "Took you long enough."

Tony wiggled his hand in Clint's face to make sure he had a good look at the ring. "This is quality bling, my friend. Do you know how long it takes to make something this awesome?"

"Wow," Clint said. "Wait until the rest of the team hears about this."

"Don't you dare tell them." Tony said. "You breathe a word of this to anybody and you're not getting any of Steve's scallops for dinner." He looked to Steve for confirmation and Steve nodded, his face schooled into a stern expression. Good man.

Clint scowled and crossed his arms over his chest. "Fine. If anybody else knows, they didn't hear it from me." He vaulted over the counter and disappeared into the vent above the fridge.

Steve leaned back against the counter. "How long are we making him keep it a secret?"

"Not long. I just want a chance to blind everyone with my ring at dinner." Tony rubbed his hands together gleefully. He really hoped Clint kept his word because he couldn't wait to see the look on Natasha's face when he surprised her at dinner. It felt awesome to know something the super spies didn't know.

Steve rolled his eyes. "You are such a child."

"Yeah, well, you're marrying me anyway." And that was a comforting thought. Steve had seen Tony in some truly terrible situations. No one would blame him for wanting to break up with him after all the stress he put Steve through. But, instead, Steve had committed to sticking around no matter what mess Tony landed them in next.

Steve stroked his thumb over Tony's cheek. "It's not always your fault when things go bad," he said. "You're responsible for a lot of things that go right, you know."

Shit. Thinking out loud again. He really was going to have to learn to stop that one day.

Steve grinned. "A day may come when you can hide how absolutely adorable you are, but it is not this day."

Tony raised an eyebrow. "Lord of the Rings? Really?" And they said his sense of humor was bad.

Steve shrugged and laced their fingers together. "Seemed appropriate, considering."

Ah, yes. The ring. The coolest piece of jewelry Tony owned. The greatest present anyone had ever given him. The only thing he was never, ever, ever taking off for the rest of his life.

Steve squeezed his hand. "You're getting a wedding ring, too, you know."

Okay, scratch that. So, the wedding ring was never, ever, ever coming off.

"And we'll have matching rings," Steve said. "Proof for the whole world that you and I love each other and any rumors to the contrary are just a bunch of hogwash."

Somehow, Tony didn't think the tabloid rumors would stop just because they got married. It'd just move into a new stage of speculation: the infinite divorce watch. But fuck the tabloids. Steve wasn't going to leave him.

Steve scooped them each a bowl of ice cream and slathered Tony's with chocolate sauce, which was just the way he liked it. Then they spent the next hour savoring their sundaes and talking.

Bruce wandered in a little after four to get a refill for his chai tea. "Good to see you lovebirds enjoying yourself," he said with a smile. He poured his tea and made for the door, hesitating just inside the doorway. "Steve, you do realize you have team dinner tonight, right?"

"Already planned out," Steve affirmed.

"Good to hear." He raised his mug in a salute and ambled back down to the lab.

Steve sighed. "Regrettably, I do need to start working on dinner," he said. "But you can stay and keep me company if you want."

Tony settled onto a stool to watch Steve at work. Steve had five different pots on the stove at once, and he still managed to make the meal look effortless. At this point, Tony would have been rushing around the kitchen putting out fires and trying to salvage whatever looked the least burnt. But, of course, nothing Steve made was the slightest bit burnt. The scallops were perfectly seared and the pasta sauce was just the right consistency. Steve let Tony have a taste test before he dished out the plates and everything tasted just as good as it looked.

The delicious smell summoned the rest of the team and they all quickly found a spot at the table. As usual, Tony and Steve sat across from each other so they could play footsies under the table. And tonight, Tony just couldn't keep the smile off his face when he looked across at Steve.

Natasha looked between the two of them. "Well, you both seem to be in fantastic mood tonight. Have you been fucking in the kitchen?"

Steve looked horrified. "Of course not," he said. "That would be so unsanitary."

Tony rolled his eyes. Of course that would be the only objection Chef Steve had to kitchen sex.

Clint stuffed a big helping of scallops into his mouth. "Ememend," he said around his mouthful.

Natasha narrowed her eyes. "What did you say?"

"He said we're engaged," Tony said. He proudly held out his hand so everyone could get a good look at the ring.

"Congratulations, my friends," Thor said. He thumped both Steve and Tony heartily on the back. "I hear that it is Midgardian tradition to celebrate such an occasion with alcohol and dancing maidens."

"We'll pass, thank you," Steve said. "Tony's put that life behind him." And he favored Tony with a proud look.

"That's right," Natasha said with a smirk. "He has to stay sober for the baby."

Tony huffed. Of course she had read that stupid story too.

Thor looked startled. "I did not think the men on your planet could conceive."

"We can't," Tony practically shouted. "There's no baby."

"That's not what this article says." Natasha tauntingly waved the offending magazine in his face.

"Ooh," Steve said. "Can I see that?"

"Of course." She handed it over to him.

Steve ripped the cover in half and handed it back to her with a smile. "Such shoddy journalism these days," he said cheerfully.

She stared at him with open-mouthed shock.

Tony burst out laughing. "Steve, you're the fucking best." He leaned across the table to kiss him.

Clint sighed. "They're going to become even more sickeningly lovey-dovey, aren't they?"

"I'm afraid so," Bruce said. But he didn't sound particularly upset about it. Because Bruce was so much cooler than Natasha and Clint. It was why he was Tony's favorite. Besides Steve, of course.

"You probably won't see much of them the next few weeks," Natasha assured Clint. "They'll be too busy planning their wedding."

Right. Wedding planning. Tony knew how to throw a big party, but he could count the number of weddings he had ever attended on one hand and still have five fingers left. And weddings were really, really formal and elaborate. There had to be so much detail and work that went into every little second and Tony hated that kind of stuff. Pepper was usually responsible for the little details. But he couldn't exactly ask his ex-girlfriend to plan his wedding for him. That seemed a little tacky.

"What's wrong?" Steve asked. "You look awfully worried all of a sudden."

Tony licked his lips. "I'm not good at planning things."

"Understatement of the year," Natasha said. "But don't worry. I'll take care of everything."

And now Tony was even more worried.

"Relax," Steve said. "It'll be a small wedding. Just the team and a few of our allies from SHIELD. No one else needs to know. A big ceremony will just be inviting a supervillain strike anyway."

Tony sucked in a deep breath. Okay, he could do this.


	11. Chapter 11

It helped that Steve seemed to like working with all the little details that Pepper used to take care of. Over the next week, Steve did all of the booking, ordering, planning, arranging, and phone calling necessary. Steve consulted Tony about most of his decisions, but there were a lot of things Tony really didn't have an opinion on because he hadn't exactly thought about such things. What did he care about flowers and color schemes or even what time of day they wanted the wedding? All that mattered was that he was marrying Steve, they were going to eat some kick-ass chocolate cake, and then they were going to escape to a tropical island for two weeks.

So, Tony's contribution to the wedding planning was pretty much just paying for all of it. But that was fine. He was spending time in the workshop fixing Steve's gear again and making sure to have pizza delivered to the Tower for lunch because if Steve was going to be on the phone with salespeople all day, he didn't need to go through the trouble of cooking.

And Clint was spamming his e-mail with pictures of Tony making goofy faces followed by a picture of Steve looking determined and the caption, “I'm going to marry him anyway.”

Tony suspected it was Clint's misguided way of showing his excitement for the upcoming wedding. Either that, or he had listened to that “Rude” song one too many times.

The wedding was planned for two months after their engagement. It was probably one of the shortest engagements in history, but as far as Tony was concerned, the sooner the wedding happened, the better. The longer they waited, the greater the chances that some cataclysmic event was going to happen to keep them separated. And Tony was going to murder whoever got in the way of their wedding.

On the morning of their wedding, Tony was a nervous wreck. So far, everything had been going smoothly. A little too smoothly. And this sort of thing just didn't happen for him. He wasn't meant to have a happy, stable relationship with someone who would love him unconditionally for the rest of his life. So, something was bound to go wrong. That was just the way Tony's life worked.

But Steve soothed him with pancakes and bacon and a large mug of coffee made just the way Tony liked it. “It's going to be perfect,” Steve said. “And all you have to do is show up.” He kissed Tony's forehead. “Deep breaths. I'll see you at the wedding.”

They were all taking separate cars to the wedding to throw off the press and any potential villain attacks. So, Steve went on ahead and the rest of them planned on arriving between eleven and noon.

Tony was going to arrive last because technically he was the bride in this situation. No, he was not wearing a wedding dress because no power in the universe could force him to wear one, but hell, he was Tony Stark. He was all about making a dramatic entrance.

And Bruce had volunteered to walk with him down the aisle because he was his science bro. He wasn't actually family, but it was good enough for Tony. Thank goodness for that because Bruce was such a calming influence and Tony really needed that right now.

Bruce put a hand on his shoulder as the wedding march started. “Relax,” he said. “It's only people we know.”

Right. It was a small wedding with only people Tony could trust. Rhodey was his best man, Sam was Steve's and the only guests invited were the rest of the team and a few trusted SHIELD agents. Jane was unobtrusively taking care of photography and of course, Happy and Pepper were there in the front row with the briefcase suit on the chair between them. Just in case.

He marched up the aisle trying to project confidence. It wasn't fooling Steve if the way he kept mouthing, “you'll be fine,” was any indication. Steve knew him so well.

It was a lot easier standing beside Steve, basking in his loving gaze. Tony dutifully listened to all the pastor's words and repeated their vows just like he had been told. And then Steve took the ring from Darcy, their ringbearer, and slid it on his finger.

Finally.

Tony Stark, the world's most notorious playboy, was now off the market. And damn was that a relief.

Everyone headed back to the Tower for the reception because if Tony knew his team like he thought he did, everyone would be outrageously drunk and he really didn't want them hauled in for public intoxication, destruction of private property and (Clint) public indecency.

Sure enough, eight beers in and Clint was climbing onto the kitchen counter to make a drunkenly impassioned speech about how happy he was that the two of them were married. Natasha had taken six shots of vodka and she just rolled her eyes and muttered about what a lightweight Clint was. Darcy and Jane just giggled into their fruity cocktails.

Tony normally would have been right there with them, but he had Steve now. Why would he get blackout drunk when he wanted to remember the whole day with perfect clarity?

The whole celebration wound down late in the evening. Tony was itching to take off with Steve to their honeymoon in Tahiti. He had already put on his suit in preparation for flying the two of them out, but of course they had to say goodbye to the team first. They were only going to be gone for two weeks, but it was understandable that everyone would miss them.

“Have fun on the beach,” Clint told Tony. The arm slung around Tony's shoulder seemed to be more for support than a friendly hug. “And get you some.”

Tony couldn't exactly feel it through the armor, but he was pretty sure Clint had just slapped him on the ass. “Whoa, whoa, whoa,” he said. “Only Steve gets to touch me like that.”

Steve looked at Tony's backside with a frown. “Clint,” he said carefully. “I don't think you spelled 'married' correctly.”

“Damn it.”

“Hey,” Tony said. “Did Clint just stick a “Just Married” sign on my ass?”

“Yep. Except it might say 'Just Muried'. Clint's handwriting is pretty bad today.”

Tony frowned at Clint who just giggled like a loon. “Goddamn you're drunk,” he said with a shake of his head. It was a sad day when he was the sober, responsible one.

Darcy popped up suddenly, giggling and fiddling with her phone.

It was a pretty good bet that the whole thing was going to plastered all over Facebook, Tumblr, and Instagram in a matter of minutes. But whatever. He didn't care. He was going to be relaxing on the beach with Steve for the next two weeks.

“And remember,” Tony told the team. “Call Rhodey first. Don't call us unless it's really an emergency and the world's fucked without us. I don't want to come all the way back here because you assholes broke the toaster or something like that.”

“What he means is that he'll miss you all,” Steve said.

“Sure,” Tony said. He untangled himself from Clint's grip and wrapped an arm around Steve's waist. “Come on, baby. Let's jet.”

Steve grinned and allowed himself to be manhandled into the perfect flight position. It wasn't the first time Tony had flown with him, but the first time he had taken him on such a long flight. So, they had to go a little more slowly than Tony would have liked. But he was sure Steve appreciated the more scenic route.

When they arrived in Tahiti, it was still afternoon, thanks to the power of time zones. Tony landed right outside the hotel and folded up the suit so he could walk hand in hand with Steve to check in to their room.

Steve seemed impressed with the hotel room and especially by the view. “Wow,” he said, glancing out the window. “Imagine waking up to this in the morning.”

“For the next two weeks, you won't have to imagine,” Tony said cheerfully. He wiggled out of his tuxedo jacket and tie. “This is reality now.”

Steve chuckled. “I don't think I'll really believe it until I actually feel the sand under my feet and go for a swim in that nice clear water.”

“Right.” Tony unbuttoned his shirt and chucked it to the side. “First on the agenda will be playing in the water.”

For someone who was known for crashing a plane in the water, Steve was still exceptionally fond of swimming. Jarvis reported that he took a few laps in the pool down in the gym every other day. Although a “few laps” for Steve was something like twenty laps.

He sat down on the edge of the bed to pull off his socks and shoes. “You are really going to love this place, Steve,” he said over his shoulder. “Warm water, white sand, and not a villain in sight.”

The bed dipped behind him and then Steve's arms circled his waist. “You're not going anywhere looking like that.”

Tony blinked and looked down at his dress pants. “Well, yeah,” he said. “Gotta get into my vacation duds. I had them stock the closet because I know you don't own a single pair of shorts and I just couldn't be assed to pack.”

“I'm not talking about the clothes,” Steve murmured. He squeezed Tony's shoulder and Tony let out a surprised groan.

Damn, that felt good.

“You're so tense,” Steve said, his hands continuing to knead Tony's shoulders. “I know you've been worrying yourself sick about the wedding, but we're on vacation now and I want you to relax.”

“I am relaxed,” Tony said, letting his head droop as Steve moved his hands lower. “You are really good at this.”

He hadn't realized how stiff he was until Steve started working on him. But of course, Steve had probably noticed several hours ago. Good old Steve. He knew Tony better than Tony knew himself.

Tony hissed as Steve's thumb dug into a particularly sore spot. “Jesus Christ,” he said. “In addition to being my personal chef, I'm hiring you as my massage therapist. Oh holy hell, you need to do this for me every day.”

“I wouldn't need to do this if you'd take better care of yourself,” Steve said against Tony's neck. “Don't get me wrong, I love taking care of you. But I'd rather you didn't let yourself get to this point.”

“Sure,” Tony said amiably. “How about I agree to take it a little easier and you agree to give me a back massage every afternoon anyway?”

“You've got yourself a deal. As long as you uphold your end of the bargain.” And Steve punctuated his statement with a light swat to Tony's rear.

Ah yes, his “end” of the bargain. Hilarious.

“I'm serious, Tony. I'm not above rewarding good behavior.” Somehow, the gentle swat had turned into a firm squeeze. And Tony's body was all for that.

Tony squirmed, rocking his hips forward. “Uh, Steve? What are you doing?”

“Taking care of you,” Steve whispered in his ear.

Tony whimpered. Because that wasn't at all the sexiest thing Steve had ever done.

Steve's hands slid all the way up Tony's back to his shoulders. He pulled Tony back against his chest and then slid his hands down Tony's front all the way to his waist.

Tony obediently spread his legs apart as Steve unbuttoned his pants and pulled down the zipper with a deliberately slow pace.

Steve nipped at his ear. “I hear I'm pretty good at this part, too,” he said.

Tony shuddered. “You've been holding out on me, baby. If I had known you could be this-aaagh.”

All coherency left him as Steve's hand closed around his shaft.

“That's it,” Steve said. “Just sit back and let me do all the work.”

Tony stared in wonder at Steve's hand wrapped around his cock. They had done this so many times now and sometimes he still couldn't believe Steve was actually doing this to him. For him.

“God, you're gorgeous,” Steve mouthed against his neck. “I'm so lucky to have you.” He squeezed Tony's thigh with his free hand. “So lucky I can touch all this beautiful skin.”

Tony came with a keening whine.

“Feel better now?” Steve asked. He tipped Tony's head to the side and kissed his collarbone. “Nice and relaxed?”

“So relaxed,” Tony mumbled. “You'll have to go swimming without me. I don't think I can move.” He slumped back against Steve's chest.

Steve chuckled and shifted Tony a little in his arms. “I can always carry you down to the beach.”

Tony rolled his eyes. “I'm sure the locals will love seeing you parade my naked ass around like a trophy.”

“I'll help you get dressed first, obviously.”

Tony waved a hand. “I'm not that helpless. Just give me a minute to catch my breath.”

“Take all the time you need.” Steve raised Tony's hand to his mouth and kissed his knuckles. “Tahiti will still be here when you wake up from your nap.”

“Nap?” Tony said with fake outrage. “How can I sleep when that glorious view is beckoning to me?” He made grabby hands towards the window and promptly faceplanted off the bed.

Steve didn't even attempt to muffle his laughter. “Boy, you weren't kidding about not being able to move. I may have to carry you after all.”

Tony scrambled to his feet. “Nice try,” he said. “But your evil plan has failed.”

Steve leaned back in bed. “Sure you can make it to the closet without injuring yourself?”

“Of course I can. You just watch me.”

But he kicked off his pants just in case.

 


	12. Chapter 12

Tony scrambled into his beach attire as quickly as he could. His limbs were still a little shaky, but he was determined to prove to Steve that he did not need his help, thank you very much, and stubbornness had always been Tony's greatest superpower. And Steve had undressed and redressed with his usual military precision so he was already ready to go by the time Tony was finished.

"I hope you had them stock more than clothes," Steve said.

"Of course. We've got towels and sunscreen and a fridge fully stocked with all the fruit juice, soda, and water we'll ever need."

Steve raised an eyebrow. "No coffee creamer?'

"Of course there's coffee creamer."

Duh. Did Steve actually expect him to survive without coffee?

Tony left Steve to do the work of loading up a cooler with ice and wandered out onto the balcony to scope out a perfect spot on the beach to set up camp.

"You ready to stop looking at it from a distance?" Steve asked. He hefted the cooler onto one shoulder..

"Jesus, yes." Tony bounded out the door, dragging Steve along with him.

They set up camp in a nice, isolated section of the beach. Tony was willing to stay put for just long enough for Steve to slather him with sunscreen and then he was jumping into the water with Steve close behind. And because they were both children at heart, the first thing they did was start splashing each other and laughing.

And they stayed in the water for the next two hours until the sun started to set. Tony supposed it was romantic to walk along the beach at sunset. But really, who cared about the sunset when he had Steve beside him?

Steve's cheeks were a little pink because he hadn't put on enough sunblock even though he had taken great care with with Tony's face. Tony was glad he had worn the ridiculously small red Speedo if only for the way Steve's hands lovingly lingered on his thighs while he applied the lotion.

He couldn't feel too sorry for Steve. His sunburn would probably be completely healed by the time they headed back to the hotel after dinner.

There was an upscale restaurant located on the bottom floor of their hotel so Tony decided to just go with that. They could go looking for other restaurants to try some other night. But tonight he was feeling a little lazy. It was a simple matter to just walk upstairs and change back into their formal wear to go to dinner.

It turned out to be a good choice as it was a fancy French restaurant and Steve was all too happy to order for them off the menu in French.

Tony leaned back in his seat. "Bet you're glad to finally have a chance to put all those French lessons to use, eh?"

Steve nodded. "We learned French and Italian in school when I was a kid. Didn't want us being ugly Americans when we went abroad."

"You're far too pretty to be an ugly American," Tony said, fluttering his eyelashes comically.

Steve smiled and reached for Tony's hand. "And so are you."

Dinner was just as delicious as Tony had expected. And so was dessert. Steve insisted on ordering this lemon custard because he knew lemon was Tony's secret weakness. It was so good that he even allowed Steve to feed him a few bites.

He carefully hid the bill from Steve. It was better if he didn't know that their meal cost more than a thousand dollars. Even though Tony could totally afford to eat like this every day, Steve would probably be really upset about him spending so much money on them. But seriously, it was their honeymoon. It was all about celebrating with wild abandon. And it was so, so worth it, even if just for the knowledge that Steve knew Italian. Because Tony had some pretty filthy Italian phrases that he had been meaning to practice.

To Tony's great delight, Steve not only understood every word he said, but had some pretty lewd phrases of his own. It took a great deal of effort to resist jumping Steve on the elevator ride up their floor, but once they made it into their room, Tony jumped into Steve's arms, hooked his legs around his waist, and started kissing the life out of him.

Somehow, Steve managed to maneuver them over to the bed and pressed Tony down on his back. Tony groaned as Steve shifted his weight to pin him against the bed and took control of the kiss. He could feel Steve's arousal and he arched his hips upwards to press against him, to make Steve breathe heavier into the kiss.

Steve's hands slipped lower to untuck Tony's shirt and tug down his pants. All without breaking out of their frantic make-out session.

As awesome as it was, it wasn't nearly enough.

Tony reluctantly pulled away from the kiss. "Before we go any further, I need you to reach over in the nightstand and grab the-"

"Lube?" Steve asked with an arched eyebrow.

Tony narrowed his eyes. "You're a little more prepared for this than I expected."

Steve coughed and turned a delicate shade of red. "I've been doing some research."

"You've been watching porn?" Tony asked gleefully. That was simultaneously hot and hilarious. He could only imagine Steve's reaction and he was just the slightest bit disappointed he hadn't been there to see it.

"Oh no," Steve said quickly. "Bruce told me those sex scenes aren't the least bit realistic and are definitely nothing I want to base my behavior on."

Tony raised an eyebrow. "Bruce has been giving you sex advice. Wow. I never would have thought."

"He wasn't exactly thrilled to have that conversation with me," Steve allowed. "He pointed me to some websites and told me I could take it from there."

Poor Bruce. Tony needed to buy him some nice things later to thank him.

"Alright," Tony said. "So, you know the basics. Can't just take me like that nurse of yours. But I'm sure you'll like taking time to prep me. You're far too patient for your own good."

Steve nodded. "If anything hurts, I want you to let me know immediately."

"Babe, I've been around the block a few times. More than a few times, actually. I know what I'm in for."

"I'm serious, Tony." Steve cupped Tony's face in his hands, forcing him to meet his eyes. And Steve's expression was definitely serious, his eyes the same slate-blue as when he sat Tony down for talks about how he was worried his recklessness in battle was going to get him killed one day.

Tony swallowed. "Okay, I promise."

Steve nodded and rolled up his sleeves. His eyes trailed down Tony's body, his jaw set determinedly like he was trying his best to come up with a plan.

"Lube?" Tony prompted.

"Not yet. Gotta get you naked first."

Well, okay. Tony was down with that. He wriggled a little to kick his pants off and did his best to help as Steve unbuttoned his shirt and pulled it over his head.

"You're so beautiful, Tony," Steve said reverently. He ran a hand over Tony's chest and down his hips. Tony stretched out languidly for a moment and basked in Steve's admiration. But while all the gentle petting and caresses were nice, he really wanted Steve to start moving things along a little faster.

"Now your clothes?" he asked hopefully.

Steve shook his head. "Lift your hips."

Tony complied, a little puzzled by where this was going. He was even more confused when Steve slid a pillow under his hips.

Well, this was new. And kind of nice.

Steve stroked his thigh. "Is this okay?"

"Yeah," Tony said. "It's perfect." None of his former lovers had done anything to try and make the angle more comfortable for him. But Steve was so thoughtful and attentive.

Steve smiled. "And now the lube."

Hooray. Fucking finally.

Steve uncapped the bottle and liberally coated his fingers.

"Come on," Tony whined. "Hurry up." He spread his legs a little more and bucked his hips impatiently.

Steve sighed and carefully slipped his index finger into Tony.

This was always the part that Tony hated. "Fucking freezing," he grumbled, squirming a little as his body adjusted to the cold.

Steve pressed a kiss against his hipbone. "Sorry," he said. "But you told me to hurry up."

Yeah, well, Tony was never known for making the best decisions.

"Just relax," Steve said. He peppered kisses over Tony's stomach and kneaded his ass with his free hand while he twisted his finger deeper inside.

Tony concentrated on his breathing, fighting the urge to clamp down against the burning stretch as Steve added a second finger. He had done this before, he reminded himself. He just had to get used to it again.

Steve's probing digit curved at just the right angle, hitting the bundle of nerves inside him.

"Holy shit," Tony gasped, his body spasming involuntarily. He had forgotten how that felt.

Steve froze. "Did that hurt?"

"Hell no. Keep going."

Steve frowned. "Tony, I don't want you lying to me."

"Steve, baby, did you happen to come across information on the prostate when you were doing your research?"

"Oh," Steve said, his face lighting up.

"Yeah," Tony said. "It's a good thing. A very good thing." He bucked his hips upwards. "So, now that we've established that, can you go back to getting ready to fuck me?"

Steve curled a finger inward and Tony groaned loudly. It had really been far, far too long since he had this kind of stimulation. It felt even better than he remembered, all his nerve endings tingling with pleasure.

"Should I do that again?" Steve asked. Tony could hear the teasing smile in his words and feel it as Steve planted another kiss against his neck.

Tony tilted his head back so Steve had better access and let his legs fall further apart. "Hell yes," he said. "You have no idea how damn good that feels."

"Glad to hear it." Steve mouthed at Tony's neck and gently nipped at his earlobe. "It's my job to make you feel good."

"Doing a great job," Tony murmured. Steve was taking things a lot slower than Tony was used to. With anybody else, by now, Tony would have been long past the prep work and getting himself pounded into the mattress. But because Steve was going so slowly and carefully, every sensation really seemed magnified. He could feel himself slowly sinking into the warm haze of pleasure as Steve stroked his prostate.

For someone who didn't really know what he was doing, Steve really knew what he was doing.

"I love you, Tony," Steve said.

Tony made some sort of answer. He wasn't sure if he was using actual words at that point or just unintelligible sounds. He was just so lost in the heat coiled deep in his gut. It had built up slowly, but Tony was so close to the edge now that he could concentrate on nothing else.

And when Steve wrapped a hand around his cock, Tony knew he was done for.

"Steve," Tony whimpered. "Oh god, oh god. I'm going to, going to-"

"It's okay," Steve said. "I've got you."

Tony's eyes fluttered shut as he bucked up into Steve's hand. He came with a low whine.

Steve pressed a kiss to his forehead. "You just relax," he said. "Let me take care of everything."

That was good. Because Tony wasn't even thinking about moving yet.

He stayed still, basking in post-orgasmic bliss as Steve pulled his hand free and gently wiped him down with a washcloth.

Good old Steve. So thoughtful. So sweet.


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everybody who's stuck with me through the whole thing. It's been great finishing a big, multi-chaptered story for a change. And all the nice reviews helped motivate me to keep working. <3

When Tony managed to pry his eyes open, Steve had his head propped in his hand and was smiling down at him.

"Hi," he said. "Glad to see you made it."

Tony pulled Steve down into a languid kiss. "Goddamn, that was intense."

"I know," Steve said. "I could see it in your expression." He kissed Tony again. "I love all the beautiful faces you make when you're enjoying yourself."

"Yep," Tony said. "I've been told I'm very expressive when I'm getting my brains fucked out." He frowned. "Hey, wait a minute here. You little weasel. I can't believe you."

Steve pulled back, his smile fading. "What's the matter?"

Tony swatted at Steve's shoulder. "It's our wedding night and you're still weaseling out of sex with me. I didn't marry you so you could be celibate the rest of your life. You do have a sex drive, don't you?"

"Of course I do," Steve said. He guided Tony's hand down to his crotch so Tony could feel his arousal. "I just like watching you make all those beautiful faces and know that I'm making you feel that good."

"And you can see all the beautiful faces I make when you fuck me. I don't know what stuff Bruce showed you, but anal sex is not all doggy style and shoving your partner up against the wall and having your way with them. That can be fun too, but I know it's not your thing. So, I can lay back just like this and let you do your lovemaking magic so we can both be happy."

"Okay."

Tony blinked. "That's it? You're okay with this?"

Steve cupped his face in his hands. "I love you, Tony. And I want to make love to you."

"But," Tony prompted.

"But we're going to do this nice and slow. I don't want to hurt you."

Well, duh. Steve was all about taking things slowly. And Tony was kind of coming around to his point of view. Sometimes good things were even better after waiting a long time for them to happen. Anticipation seemed to be Steve's favorite form of foreplay.

Tony grabbed a handful of Steve's shirt. "Let's start by getting you out of these stuffy clothes."

Steve shed his suit jacket and allowed Tony to help him out of his shirt. Tony was glad for another opportunity to run his hands over Steve's glorious abs. It really was a shame that someone had invented shirts.

Steve's breath hitched as Tony's hands wandered lower, cupping him through his pants. He definitely meant it when he said he wanted sex. He was just too goddamn patient for his own good. Tony couldn't imagine just sitting there with a massive erection and doing everything but taking care of it.

"Tony," Steve groaned, bucking against his hand.

Yeah, now he was impatient.

Reluctantly, Tony removed his hand from Steve's groin so he could help him wiggle out of his pants and his underwear.

There. Finally. Steve was wonderfully, gloriously, amazingly, beautifully naked. And Tony was dying to feel his awesome, magnificent-

"You're going to start running out of adjectives pretty soon," Steve warned.

Fuck. Talking out loud again. Well, it was Steve's fault. How was Tony expected to stay rational when had all that hotness in front of him? Gorgeous, gorgeous Steve. He could just stare at him all night.

"Please don't," Steve said. "You're going to give me a complex."

"Bullshit. You deserve to know how hot you are." Tony stroked Steve's side. "You're the kind of man people used to honor by building statues of them."

Ah, that was a great idea. They could really classy up the Tower with a couple statues of Steve in heroic poses. Now that was fine art Tony could really appreciate.

Steve groaned. "You keep talking like that and I'm going to have performance issues. I'm nervous enough as it is."

"Don't be nervous. Sex is easy. You just take it nice and easy the first time. And since that's practically your motto anyway, you should do fine."

Steve sighed. "You've had so many partners with more experience than me."

"I don't care about experience. Most of them just saw me as another warm body and didn't give a damn whether I enjoyed myself or not. So, you're already way ahead of them in my book. And besides, it'll be fun to teach you all my tricks."

Steve smiled and reached for the jar of lube.

Tony dropped his head back down against the mattress and closed his eyes.

Finally. Fucking finally.

He spread his legs open wider and tried to relax as Steve again probed him with cold, slick fingers, this time adding a third. It hurt just a little, but Tony was more than ready for Steve to finally breach his body.

Tony sucked in a breath and willed his body to adjust. Steve was just a bit bigger than the guys he was used to. And Steve was definitely taking it easy, pushing in inch by inch. But still, Tony had never been stretched open this far. He was really going to feel it in the morning.

By the time Steve was fully sheathed inside, Tony was panting with the effort it took to stay relaxed. Goddamn Steve was big. He was really going to enjoy it once he got used to Steve's size. At the moment, the fullness felt a little uncomfortable. But already the pain was starting to dull.

"Oh, Tony, you feel so good," Steve whispered brokenly.

"Don't move yet," Tony said. "Just, just savor the moment."

"I am." Steve kissed his way up Tony's neck. "I had no idea sex was supposed to be like this. It's indescribable."

Tony squirmed a little, trying to get comfortable. "Must be why you never enjoyed your time with Nurse Whatshername. You're more of an ass man."

"Course I am. I married you, didn't I?"

Tony eyed him suspiciously, but Steve just looked down at him lovingly.

Steve leaned forward to kiss him again. "You okay?" he asked.

Tony's eyes trailed over Steve's body, picking up the subtle signs of strain. His arms were trembling just a little bit from holding his weight off Tony and there was a little sweat beading up on his forehead. Still, Steve could probably maintain this position all night if Tony asked him to. Because he loved Tony and was willing to do anything for him.

It was still hard to believe this selfless man had actually married him.

Tony exhaled slowly. "Okay," he said. "Start moving."

Steve didn't need to be told to go slow. He rolled his hips forward with a groan, but his eyes stayed fixed on Tony's face the entire time, searching for any sign of pain. Tony had thought the missionary position was pretty boring and unsatisfying. It got the job done, but that was it. But he realized he liked keeping eye contact with Steve. Steve's eyes were almost iridescent this close, glassy with pleasure. Tony knew he was still being attentive, still being careful with his strength, but it was a thrill to see Steve start to relax, start to enjoy himself for once.

He curled his hands around Steve's back, moaning as Steve adjusted the angle of his thrusts.

So, maybe he was kind of getting off on the intimacy.

It wasn't the weirdest kink he had ever had. He had been into some really freaky shit in his younger days. Wanting to gaze lovingly into Steve's eyes and run a hand over his chest while they made love was only weird in the fact that it was so normal.

This wasn't a one-night stand. He was going to wake up in the morning with Steve in his bed and be absolutely happy he was still there. And he was looking forward to sleeping with Steve over and over and over again for the rest of their lives. He couldn't wait for the post-battle thank-god-you're-alive sex, makeup sex after an argument, birthday sex, anniversary sex, and just normal everyday sex because it was with Steve and that was all that mattered.

"I love you," Steve said.

"Love you, too." He looped his arms over the back of Steve's neck and pulled him down into another languid kiss.

Steve was doing really well for his first time having sex with a man. Probably because all the long months they had spent just cuddling. Steve knew his body so well now, knew exactly how to kiss him and where he was the most sensitive. It really was the best sex Tony had ever had. And it was only going to get better after Steve had more practice.

He fought to keep his eyes open as orgasm hit. His vision started to blur, but Steve's gasp was clearly audible. Tony clamped down, drawing a helpless, choked noise from Steve as he hit his own orgasm.

Tony peeled his eyes open, grinning at the look of stunned satisfaction on Steve's face. "Pretty good, right?

Steve was breathing like he had just run five miles, which meant he was only slightly out of breath. He peppered Tony's neck with kisses. "Oh, Tony," he murmured. "That was fantastic. I could stay just like this for the rest of the night."

Tony snickered. "Too lazy to move, you mean."

Steve eyed him. "Don't you usually pass out after sex?"

"I do not," Tony said indignantly.

"Oh, that's right. You just fall off the bed."

"That was a fluke. I'm totally fine now. Great. Energized. Must be your super soldier sperm leeching into my bloodstream and oozing out my pores."

Steve made a face. "Well, I was thinking of just staying like this, but not if you're going to be gross."

"You don't want to stay like this anyway. It sounds romantic, but you wake up the next morning stuck together and dried cum is the worst-"

Steve swatted him. "I don't want to hear about it. Just do what you have to do."

Tony cleaned himself up in the bathroom and changed into his pajamas. When he returned to the bedroom, Steve was in his pajamas too and lounging on the bed. Tony snuggled in beside him. "See, you survived your first anal sex experience. Told you it wasn't that hard."

Steve stroked his hair. "Thanks to you. I would have been lost if you hadn't taught me everything."

"I haven't taught you everything yet. This is just the tip of the iceberg, so to speak." Tony frowned. "Shit, that came out wrong. What I mean is, there's a hell of a lot more to sex than the missionary position. I made a whole list of positions and sexy activities I want to try with you. You don't have to do everything, of course. I'm not going to force you into anything you're uncomfortable with, but I have to at least give you a blowjob. I'm really good at those. Or at least, I was." He was going to have to get back in practice. Good thing he had always liked sucking cock.

Steve put his hands on Tony's shoulders. "Breathe," he said.

Tony sucked in a breath. "Sorry, I tend to ramble when I get excited about things. But you knew that by now."

Steve's mouth quirked into a half-smile. "Do you really have a list?"

"Of course I do." Tony grabbed his phone off the nightstand. "Jarvis, bring up 'Fun Things to Do With Steve.'"

"I would advise against showing that to Captain Rogers," Jarvis said. "In fact, I would probably advise against showing it to anybody."

Tony snorted. "I'm married to the guy. Too late for him to run away now."

"That's right," Steve said. "Nothing you can dream up will ever chase me away."

"See, Jarvis? I'm not going to traumatize him."

"If you insist, sir."

Tony grinned as the list showed up under the notes section on his phone. He handed it to Steve. "Take a look. There's all sort of fun possibilities."

Steve studied the phone for a moment. "Lick whipped cream off Steve's abs. Lick chocolate sauce off Steve's abs." He looked up from the phone and raised an eyebrow.

Tony shrugged. "So, maybe I just really want to lick your abs in general. They're nice abs, you know. They deserve a little attention."

"Weird, but okay." Steve turned back to the list. "Have sex on every piece of furniture imaginable except the dining table or kitchen counter because Steve is kind of a germaphobe." Now he looked distinctly unimpressed.

"Oops," Tony said. "How did that get in there?" He reached over Steve and quickly hit the backspace key to erase most of it.

Steve read a few moments in silence and Tony tried not to fidget. Surely Steve would let him know if he saw anything really ojectionable. No commentary had to mean Steve was okay with what he saw. Or maybe all of it was too boring for him to even consider.

But then Steve's face started to redden. "I didn't know this was physically possible," he said in a low voice.

Tony peered over his shoulder. "Where are you at? The uniform one? I know that'll be a little tricky, but I'm sure we can pull it off."

Steve shook his head and pointed to the picture of a man bent nearly in half, clasping his ankles above his head.

"Oh, the infamous Viennese Oyster position. Yeah, it's possible. You just have to be really, really flexible."

Steve looked at him through his eyelashes. "And are you really, really flexible?"

"Hell yes. Let me show you."

Steve started. "Now?"

"Yeah, why not. No time like the present."

"I don't want you overexerting yourself," Steve began.

"I'm not overexerting myself. Jesus, I just have so much energy. It's like I'm a teenager again, thinking about doing it all night long."

Steve chuckled. "Then I guess it's my duty to help you get rid of all that excess energy."

Tony grinned. So far, married life was pretty much the best thing ever.


End file.
